Department for Transport

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Sales

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce regulations to monitor the sale of drones for private and commercial use.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Civil Aviation Authority keeps a record of all the permissions they have issued to fly commercial drones in UK airspace. However this does not extend to leisure users of drones. To address this the Department for Transportis currently looking at a range of options including regulation, registration and licensing options and a database to increase transparency on the use of drones for the general public. We will be looking to address these issue without placing unnecessary bureaucratic burden on this emerging industry. We intend to consult on all of these issues and other possible solutions in 2016.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) homes and (b) businesses that will need to be demolished in Eddisbury constituency to construct phase two of the High Speed 2 line.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Further work is needed on the remainder of the Phase Two route and stations before a final route decision can be taken. The Government intends to make this decision in autumn 2016. At that point the Department will consult on its safeguarding directions which are designed to ensure that land which has been identified for HS2 is protected from conflicting developments. We will then be in a position to provide a robust estimate of the potential impact on homes and businesses along the line of route.

Driving Tests: Industrial Disputes

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to communicate to learner drivers that their tests have been cancelled in the event of strike action.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) sent emails to candidates who had tests booked during the recent industrial action. The emails advised candidates about the industrial action and reminded them that they could change their test date online without loss of fee by giving three clear working days’ notice. The emails also advised candidates that if they came for a test and it was cancelled because of strike action they could claim out of pocket expenses, and that their test would be rebooked automatically for the earliest possible date at no further charge.DVSA alerted driving instructors and other stakeholders who are signed up to DVSA’s email alert system, proactively contacted driving instructor associations, displayed posters in driving test centres and published advice for candidates on the GOV.UK website. DVSA also used its social media channels to respond to queries and to direct customers to the guidance on GOV.UK.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has put in place to fund walking and cycling infrastructure once the Local Sustainable Transport Fund ends in March 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department has a statutory obligation to deliver the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). The Department has commenced the early first stages of work to develop the first CWIS by summer 2016 following a formal consultation in spring 2016. Detailed content of this Strategy is not yet available.The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking by investing over £300m during this Parliament. This includes delivering the Cycle City Ambition programme in full, and funding the Bikeability cycle training programme, which increases cycle proficiency amongst school children. It also includes a new ‘Access’ fund for sustainable travel building on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. It is too early to say what the details of this new Access fund will be as discussions are ongoing, but information is expected to be available in the coming weeks.

Railways: Fares

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will take steps to ensure that all rail users have access to rail fares data which can help them find the cheapest split-ticket fares.

Claire Perry: Rail fares information for all journeys on the national rail network is available on Train Operating Company and the National Rail Enquiries website. This also includes journey planning information. This can be used by anyone to check fares and find any split ticket opportunity.The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) who represent the rail industry make the underlying data available, free of charge, under the terms of a licence arrangement. There are now a number of websites which offer a service to search for split ticket combinations.

Transport: Suicide

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many suicides were recorded as having taken place on (a) roads, (b) rail lines and (c) underground rail systems in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: The total number of suicides recorded as having taken place on National Rail and on London Underground in each of the last five years are shown in the following table.Total suicide or suspected suicide: GB 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15National Rail208249245277293 London Underground2622242521Source: ORREquivalent data are not available for light rail or for other underground rail systems.The Government is fully supportive of initiatives which the rail industry is taking, led by Network Rail, in liaison with the Samaritans and other organisations, to reduce the number of suicides on the network. The initiatives include measures to reduce the ease of access to platforms passed by fast trains, and to train staff to intervene to help people near the railway who may be in a distressed state.Suicides are excluded from road casualty statistics as reported by the police. Highways England figures for the Strategic Road Network show that in 2014 (Jan-Dec) there were 856 suicide/suicide attempts reported. So far in 2015 (Jan – 07 Dec) there have been 762 recorded incidents. These figures are sourced from the Highways England command and control database. Not all suicides/suicide attempts are reported as it may be the case that they have been dealt with by emergency services. The figures reflect those incidents that Highways England have been directly involved in or have been reported to them. In addition, there is no way of knowing how many of the incidents resulted in a fatality.

Road Traffic Offences: Prosecutions

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many prosecutions there have been for tachograph violations in each year since 2010.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency takes non-compliance with drivers hour's regulations very seriously and deals appropriately with anyone who attempts to undermine public safety by not taking the required breaks. This includes taking prohibition and prosecution action.DVSA is determined to tackle the small minority of operators and drivers who choose to break the rules, and it has effective measures in place to catch offenders quickly.DVSA carry out investigations based on intelligence and information from the public and the haulage industry, as well as conducting checks across the strategic road network, using technology such as ANPR cameras, as well as enforcement officers at the roadside and at DVSA check sites The figures below show the amount of prosecutions for tachograph violations in each year since 2010, with figures also included for 2008/09 and 2009/10 to provide context.Heavy Goods Vehicle2008/092009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Drivers Hours3,9132,7172,2112,3462,1302,2191,518Tacho records2,0461,3911,1531,6191,6641,8311,343 Public Service Vehicle2008/092009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Drivers Hours32610787458293119149Tacho records21912258409218106148  Light Goods Vehicle2008/092009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Drivers Hours38234325153533Tacho records2019251513620

East Anglia Railway Line

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy and guidance of the 13 day closure of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway line in November 2015 as a result of leaf damage to diesel rolling stock; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



Together with Abellio Greater Anglia (AGA) and Network Rail, the Department is very disappointed with the train service that has been provided to passengers on a number of rural routes in Anglia this autumn. In particular, the level of cancellations on branch lines operated by diesel trains has been unacceptable.Network Rail and AGA have secured the services of John Curley, a respected railway industry professional, to hold an independent review of the factors and circumstances that conspired to affect services so badly. We expect this review to identify the root cause of failures and highlight lessons that need to be learned for the future. We expect corrective action to be taken wherever practicable to avoid recurrence in the future.I can confirm that the results of the review will be made available to the winning bidder of the current East Anglia franchise competition.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Safety

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) lorry drivers from outside the UK have the appropriate licences and skills to drive on roads safely and (b) left-hand drive lorries have appropriate extra mirrors to improve visibility of cyclists and other road users to the lorry driver.

Andrew Jones: Road traffic legislation applies to everyone using British roads and this includes the obligation to provide documentation if required to do so by the police.The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has check sites in the Port of Dover and throughout the strategic road network of Great Britain. At these sites, all classes of Large Goods Vehicles are checked to ensure vehicle roadworthiness, the correct documentation and compliance with drivers’ hours regulations.The mirror requirements for heavy goods vehicles are the same throughout the EU.However, Department for Transport officials have currently negotiated improved requirements for mirrors on the passenger side of vehicles. The implementation process is now underway in the EU and means that drivers of newly registered HGVs from 1 July 2016 will have a better view of the area adjacent to the cab on the passenger side, which should improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Furtherchanges will also allow camera monitoring systems and enable the redesign of lorry cabs for better vision.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Taxation

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations have been made to his Department on fraud involving the tax status of lorry drivers.

Andrew Jones: The Road Haulage Association has made my Department aware of concerns about widespread fraud involving the tax status of lorry drivers. The Road Haulage Association has raised these concerns directly with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Home Office

UK Border Force: Surveillance

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of 16 November 2015, Official Report, column 393, on the Paris terrorist attacks, what capabilities for Border Force maritime aerial surveillance are needed; and whether those capabilities are fewer than under the present contract.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 10 December 2015



For security reasons we do not disclose details of the surveillance capabilities available to Border Force. Border Force will ensure it retains appropriate air surveillance capabilities to meet continuing operational needs.

Internet: Fraud

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to tackle online fraud.

Mike Penning: The Government takes fraud including online fraud incredibly seriously. That is why we established the Economic Crime Command and the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency to tackle the most sophisticated international cybercriminals and fraudsters. We have also made significant investment in Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, both operated by City of London Police, to improve our intelligence on fraud and provide a better disruption response.We are also investing in regional and local police capabilities to tackle fraud. This includes, establishing cyber teams at a regional level to support the National Crime Agency and local forces in more complex digital investigations, training police officers and staff in how to identify and secure evidence on digital devices, and launching a network of police officers to offer advice on cybercrime and fraud to individuals and businesses across the country.Furthermore, as the Chancellor announced on 17 November, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9billion. Many successful frauds and cybercrimes could be prevented. Through the most recent phase of our Cyber Streetwise campaign, we are helping to educate the public and businesses on the importance of adopting simple security measures, such as installing security software and stronger passwords.Industry also has a role to play in fraud and cyber crime prevention. That is why we are working with the banking sector and law enforcement agencies to more effectively disrupt fraudsters and protect victims. This work will be a key part of the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, which the Government intends to publish next year.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to (a) supervise foreign prisoners and (b) contact the relevant foreign justice ministries when such prisoners are deported.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not supervise foreign prisoners once they have been deported from the UK or routinely advise foreign governments when a returnee is a Foreign National Offender. However, we have negotiated arrangements with three countries, to date, to share limited criminality information in advance of deportation.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether victims of crime are informed when foreign prisoners are (a) deported and (b) expected to be released.

James Brokenshire: A victim may contact the Home Office directly or make a request via their Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) for information on the progress of a foreign prisoner’s deportation. When a request is received the Home Office will respond to the victim or their VLO on whether deportation is being pursued or has been enforced.

Organised Crime: Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what level of co-operation there is between the National Crime Agency and authorities in the Republic of Ireland on combatting organised criminal activities taking place between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mike Penning: The Common Travel Area between the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies and the free movement of goods within the EU mean that close liaison and co-operation between UK and Irish law enforcement partners against serious and organised crime is both vital and valued by both sides. The National Crime Agency has dedicated resources currently working with Irish law enforcement agencies to tackle the threat from organised crime that affects both our countries.On 17 November 2015, the Northern Ireland Office published ‘A Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’. The National Crime Agency will be involved in discussions with the Department of Justice for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Office, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Immigration Enforcement in relation to the implementation of the agreement.

Home Office: Correspondence

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's target is for time taken to respond to letters and emails from hon. Members; what the average time taken by her Department to respond to such letters and emails is; and how many such letters and emails received between 1 January and 30 September 2015 remained unanswered after eight weeks.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 15 December 2015



Target times for replying to correspondence from hon. Members differ in operational and non-operational areas of the Home Office. Information for the period 1 January to 30 September 2015 is included in the attached table. Across the department correspondence unanswered after eight weeks is approximately 0.3% of that received.VolumeTargetAverage response timeUnanswered after 8 weeksUK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force25,11120 working days9 working days21Home Office HQ4,60815 working days11 working days78HM Passport Office2,52215 working days12 working days2



Table - PQ 19652 
(Word Document, 15.66 KB)

Vetting: Standards

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) what the average waiting time was for checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service to be completed and (b) how long on average the Police National Computer search took in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14, (v) 2014-15 and (vi) 2015-16 to date.

Karen Bradley: The following table shows, for each year from November 2010 to October 2015, both the average end-to-end turnaround time for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates and the average time to complete the Police National Computer (PNC) stage.The PNC stage has been defined as the time spent in DBS between receipt of an application and – in the case of Enhanced Disclosures – its despatch to local police forces; or – in the case of Standard Disclosures – its assembly for return to the applicant. During this period, DBS conducts a search of the Police National Computer, followed by internal checks to ensure both the accuracy and quality of certificates.Time PeriodAverage End to End Turnaround (days)Average PNC Stage Turnaround (days)Nov-10 to Oct-1116.221.72Nov-11 to Oct-1210.852.25Nov-12 to Oct-1310.231.54Nov-13 to Oct-1413.632.42Nov-14 to Oct-1514.282.86

Fraud: Merseyside

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serious fraud cases are under investigation by Merseyside Police Force; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: This information is not held centrally. Information about the number of cases under investigation may be obtainable from the individual force.

Firearms: West Midlands

Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests have been made in connection with gun crime in the West Midlands metropolitan area in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each quarter of 2015.

Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support the West Midlands Police Force respond to an increase in the levels of gun crime in Birmingham.

Mike Penning: The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans. The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of arrests made in connection with gun crime. The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and the government and the police continue to work together to reduce the threat from the criminal use of firearms. We will be reviewing options to strengthen the current legislation to ensure it safeguards against abuse by criminals following representations made by the police (and other stakeholders) during the Law Commission’s scoping consultation on firearms legislation. The number of offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) in the West Midlands has fallen by 40% since 2010, from 903 offences in 2009/10 to 540 in 2013/14.

Firearms: Crime

Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle gang-related gun crime.

Mike Penning: The Government and police work nationally, and with international partners, to reduce the threat to the UK from the criminal use of firearms. In 2013/14, firearms were used in a small and diminishing proportion of total police recorded crime, 0.2%.The Government keeps the firearms licensing system under review to safeguard against abuse by criminals and to preserve public safety. We have asked the Law Commission to conduct a scoping consultation on firearms law and we are considering the recommendations made by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary following their inspection on how the firearms system is working in practice. We also support local areas to take action against gang violence to reduce offending and protect vulnerable people. Under the Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme, Birmingham was subject to a peer review in 2012 and has implemented and integrated the recommendations from the review into their local strategic plans.

Fraud: Convictions

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions resulted from reports to Action Fraud in each year since it was set up.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold this information. The Ministry of Justice are responsible for statistics on convictions.

Cybercrime: Young Offenders

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the page on the National Crime Agency website entitled, Cyber crime: Preventing young people from getting involved, what the statistical evidence is for the statement that more and more teenagers and young people are involved in cyber crime.

Mike Penning: The evidence to support this statement has derived from analysis by the National Crime Agency of investigations involving their National Cyber Crime Unit. This found the average age of suspects to be 17, compared to 24 in the previous year. The statement has also been informed by debriefing sessions that the National Cyber Crime Unit has undertaken with offenders, and academic engagement.

Visas: Yemen

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how UK citizens living in the UK can apply for a visa for relatives living in Yemen.

James Brokenshire: UK citizens can submit visa applications on behalf of relatives living overseas via the following website - www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk/home/welcome.The applicant would then need to travel to their nearest Visa Application Centre (VAC) to verify the information provided and progress their application to the next stage.There are no VACs in Yemen; guidance for applying for a UK visa from Yemen can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/yemen-apply-for-a-uk-visa/apply-for-a-uk-visa-in-yemen

Immigrants: Detainees

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration detainees were held in each prison establishment in each of the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is not routinely collected and could be provided only by examining individual case records, which would result in disproportionate cost.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: EU Foreign Affairs Council

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions on Yemen took place at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 17 November 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 16 November, Yemen was discussed and Council Conclusions adopted. These expressed concern at the humanitarian situation, and gave full support to the UN-led process, working towards a ceasefire and political solution. These were supported by all Member States.

UK Membership of EU

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the shipping industry on the proposed referendum on membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington: The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation of the UK's EU membership. We have been keeping Parliament informed of our progress and engaging with a range of stakeholders, including business. We are not aware of any approaches made directly from shipping industry representatives.

Turkey: Kurds

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Turkish government about the use of curfew, martial law and the deployment of the military in (a) Cizre and Silvan and (b) other mainly Kurdish towns.

Mr David Lidington: We welcome the visit on 15-16 October of Turkey’s national human rights body to Cizre and Sirnak to conduct analysis and research on the recent events there. We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey closely and raise concerns regularly with the Turkish authorities.

UK Membership of EU

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's plans are for making progress on the UK's renegotiation with the EU before the next EU summit.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), The Chancellor of the Excheque (Mr Osborne), my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton and I have continued to meet our counterparts to discuss the UK’s renegotiation since September and we will continue to do so. There will be a substantive discussion at the December European Council as planned.

UK Membership of EU

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made in his renegotiation with the EU on achieving migration restrictions without requiring treaty change.

Mr David Lidington: Tackling abuses of the right to free movement and reducing the draw that our welfare system can exert across Europe are key elements of the renegotiation agenda. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has been clear in his discussions with other leaders that the reforms we are seeking must be legally binding and irreversible and that in some areas that will mean treaty change. We look forward to further substantive discussions on this issue at the December European Council.

West Africa: Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress in building security in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries which are often entered by Boco Haram; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding by the UK and EU for this purpose.

James Duddridge: We welcome the recent successes achieved by the Nigerian armed forces against Boko Haram and the establishment of the Multinational Joint Taskforce to tackle the group.The UK is providing a substantial and increasing package of UK military, intelligence, development and humanitarian support to help Nigeria and the region tackle Boko Haram. This includes training and advice to Nigerian military units deployed against Boko Haram and £5 million to support the Multinational Joint Taskforce. However a security approach alone will not solve the conflict. We are therefore providing £8.2 million in humanitarian support and the Department for International Development are also providing £9 million through its Sahel humanitarian programme to support Nigerian refugees and other vulnerable people in Cameroon and Niger. In addition 60% of the Department for International Development's £222 million 2015/16 development budget for Nigeria is spent in Northern Nigeria.The UK works closely with the European Union on their programmes in the region, these include €20.5 million aid for Nigeria programmes to Counter Violent Extremism and on civil-military relations in Nigeria.

Nigeria

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the UK has provided to interfaith peace-building initiatives in Nigeria; and what assessment he has made of the outcomes of such initiatives.

James Duddridge: We recognise the important role that interfaith understanding has to play in peace building in Nigeria.The Department for International Development (DFID) supports a range of initiatives and economic projects to build bridges between Muslim and Christian communities across Nigeria and break the cycle of conflict. For example, through DFID’s Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) religious, traditional and community leaders meet monthly with NGOs, the police, security services and civil society actors to discuss and act on conflict issues.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's target is for time taken to respond to letters and emails from hon. Members; what the average time taken by his Department to respond to such letters and emails is; and how many such letters and emails received between 1 January and 30 September 2015 remained unanswered after eight weeks.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to reply to the letter of 26 November 2015 from the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West regarding mass executions in Saudi Arabia.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) received the letter from the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) on 27 November 2015. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) will respond to the hon. Member by 24 December.FCO Ministers aim to respond to all correspondence from Members of this House, both written and electronic, within 20 working days of receipt, in line with Cabinet Office guidance.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441892/Cabinet_Office_Guidance_on_correspondence.pdf

Diplomatic Service: Staff

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which UK embassies have a human rights adviser on their staff.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 2014 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report stated that we have an estimated 240 full-time equivalents who work directly on human rights. That number included two contracted Human Rights Advisers within the Human Rights and Democracy Department in London, and two Human Rights Advisers at the UK Mission in Geneva. However, as the Foreign Secretary explained in his Independent article on 10 December, [http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/promoting-human-rights-is-not-about-who-can-shout-the-loudest-a6767386.html], human rights work is not just the preserve of a few specialised staff but the responsibility of all British diplomats and an important part of the training our staff receive.

Dogs: Meat

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received from diplomatic representatives in the UK of states where the trade of dog meat for consumption is active subsequent to the debate in the House on the dog meat trade of 5 November 2015.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Ministers have made to their counterparts abroad or to their diplomatic representatives in the UK on the practice of consuming and selling dog meat for consumption subsequent to the debate in the House on the dog meat trade of 5 November 2015.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken or plans to take on the practice of consuming and selling dog meat for consumption in addition to the steps he set out in the debate in the House on the dog meat trade of 5 November 2015.

Mr Hugo Swire: Since the debate on 5 November my Department has not received any representations from any diplomatic missions in the UK on the dog meat trade, nor have Ministers made representations to their counterparts abroad. As highlighted during the debate by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), I am contacting our Ambassadors in the countries concerned to review our activities in this area.The Government is committed to raising the standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. I raised animal welfare issues during my visit to the region in February and will continue to make representations when appropriate.

Cabinet Office

Self-employed: Pay

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make representations to the Office for National Statistics to include earnings from self-employment in its weekly earnings series.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office will be working with the Office for National Statistics to consider ways to improve data collection capability, including potential legislative options.

Proof of Identity

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the population can the Verify identity assurance system assure the identity of.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what credentials individuals are required to have in order to register for GOV.UK Verify.

Matthew Hancock: GOV.UK Verify is currently in public beta and is constantly being improved and expanded based on user feedback. Currently, 80% of the overall UK adult population can be assured. Other methods are available to ensure services are universally available.GOV.UK Verify uses certified companies to check users. Each certified company performs checks before verifying your identity to GOV.UK to meet assurance standards set by the Government. It is possible to verify your identity using a wide range of identity evidence, including any passport, any EU identity document, and any bank account or payment card.

Attorney General

Human Trafficking: Prosecutions

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Attorney General, how many alleged human traffickers have been prosecuted by the CPS as a result of calls made to the NSPCC human trafficking and modern slavery helpline between July 2014 and June 2015.

Robert Buckland: In the last financial year the CPS successfully prosecuted 130 human trafficking cases. However, the CPS does not record how an allegation of human trafficking or modern slavery was brought to the attention of the investigative authorities.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK: Redcar

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he made prior to the closure of SSI Redcar of the (a) opportunity to produce foundry coke at Redcar coke ovens and (b) potential market for foundry coke.

Anna Soubry: As with any business, prior to the liquidation of SSI UK, these were commercial matters for SSI.

Small Businesses: West Yorkshire

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the level of growth of small and medium-sized enterprises across West Yorkshire since 2010.

Anna Soubry: Statistics on the small and medium-sized business population are not available for West Yorkshire. Covering a larger geographical area, The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Business Population Estimates, in 2015 show there were 50,200 (15%) more small and medium-sized businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber region than in 2010.The closest suitable geography is that of the Local Enterprise Partnership. ONS statistics show there were 98,500 small and medium-sized businesses registered for VAT or PAYE in 2015 in the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership area. The figure reported for 2010 was 83,200, although this was calculated on a different basis and is not strictly comparable.

Partnerships: Scotland

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on tackling fraud and money laundering of the findings by Kroll in a report prepared for the National Bank of Moldova in April 2015 on fraud and money laundering in that country, that all but one of the limited partnerships involved had a registered place of business in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: We are aware of the findings of the Kroll report which makes general observations based on publically-available records. We have not corroborated the accuracy and completeness of the report, but it raises broad issues we were aware of and are currently considering.The Government takes the misuse of all UK business entities extremely seriously. This is why under the UK Presidency in 2013, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister secured agreement from the G7 countries to sign-up to ambitious proposals to tackle the abuse of companies and legal arrangements. Increasing transparency about who owns and controls UK companies is a vital step in creating an environment of trust and accountability.From April 2016, UK companies and other entities will be required to create a register containing information of the people with significant control, including their name, month and year of birth, and service address. From June 2016, this information will be provided to a central register at Companies House and will be publically available.

Students: Loans

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the rationale is for setting the interest rate on the repayment of student loans under the new system at three per cent.

Joseph Johnson: Interest rates on student loans vary according to a number of factors, including a borrower's level of earnings, and whether they remain in contact with the Student Loans Company to ensure they are repaying when they are eligible to do so.The maximum interest rate for the post-2012 system is the Retail Price Index (RPI) figure plus 3%. The maximum rate applies whilst the borrower is studying; is the maximum interest rate for those borrowers earning £41,000 and over; and is the default interest rate for those borrowers who fail to keep in touch with the Student Loans Company.Once a borrower is due to repay, a variable rate of interest will be charged, which is dependent upon income. Borrowers with an income of £21,000 or less will accrue interest at RPI. For a borrower with income greater than £21,000, a real rate of interest will be tapered in, reaching a maximum of RPI plus 3% at an income of £41,000 or more.

Latin America: Foreign Students

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many UK students attend universities in Latin America.

Joseph Johnson: The UNESCO Institute of Statistics estimates for every country the number of outbound tertiary students studying in different regions of the world. Their most recent figures refer to 2013 and are published at the link: http://data.uis.unesco.org/The estimated number of UK students attending universities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013 was 234.

Research: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what financial support the Government has provided for academic research in Dundee in each year since 2010.

Joseph Johnson: Government provides financial support for academic research in Dundee through various routes, including funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) Science & Research budget for Research Council grants, research capital grants (allocated through Scottish Funding Council - SFC) and the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF). In addition the Scottish Government allocates funding via the SFC for recurrent research grant.Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data includes information about research grant income earned by individual higher education institutions from higher education (HE) funding bodies, Research Councils and Government Departments. The SFC publish details of the BIS HE research capital funding. Details of the RPIF are published by HEFCE.The research grant income earned by the University of Dundee and Abertay University from these sources in each academic year are listed in the table (figures in £000s). HESA data for 2014-15 are not yet available.Academic year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15SFC recurrent research funding23,84123,60624,13324,409-Research Councils20,73422,20315,26022,387-Other Government Funding5,7384,6515,5359,371-BIS HE Research Capital2,270602728860974Grand Total52,58351,06245,65657,027-In addition, the University of Dundee secured £11.7m from UK RPIF for expenditure over 2012-15.

Internet: Small Businesses

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the proportion of small businesses which do not have an online presence.

Anna Soubry: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2014 Small Business Survey shows that 36% of all small businesses do not have a website. Further research on small businesses' digital capabilities was published on 9th September 2015. The Office for National Statistics also publishes information on businesses’ e-commerce and ICT activity. It should be noted that 46% of small businesses use social media.

Higher Education: Standards

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the costs of implementing the Teaching Excellence Framework.

Joseph Johnson: We recently published the Green Paper: “Fulfilling our potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice,” which sets out our proposals for delivering the Teaching Excellence Framework.Once we have considered the consultation responses, and are in a position to publish our final proposals, we will publish a Regulatory Impact Assessment which will set out the costs of implementation.

Students: Loans

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on students of replacing maintenance grants with loans.

Joseph Johnson: The Government published an Equality Analysis on changes to student support on 3rd December. This can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/482110/bis-15-639-student-finance-equality-analysis.pdf

Science: Finance

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government is taking to maintain current spending levels on the core elements of the science budget in real terms over the course of the Parliament.

Joseph Johnson: The Government made clear in the Spending Review its commitment to science and research. We will protect science resource funding in real terms from its current level of £4.7 billion per annum for the rest of the Parliament. Growth in the ring fence will be used to invest in a new £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund for UK science to pioneer new ways of tackling global problems. As well as increasing resource spending for science, we are investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale, delivering on the £6.9 billion science capital commitment in our manifesto to provide the infrastructure and funding to keep the UK globally competitive.The allocation of budgets to individual funding bodies, programmes and facilities has yet to be determined. As per previous spending rounds this allocation process will take place over the coming months.

Apprentices: Taxation

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what modelling his Department conducted on the effect of the Apprenticeship Levy prior to its announcement.

Nick Boles: HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, conducted internal modelling on which rate and scope would result in sufficient levels of income to fund growth in high-quality apprenticeships up until 2020. It will continue to conduct analysis and have an open dialogue with employers to understand the cost and benefits of the apprenticeship levy.

Institute for Apprenticeships

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultations he or officials in his Department have had with (a) further education college representatives, (b) further education providers and (c) sector skills councils about the structures on board composition of the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Nick Boles: The creation of the Institute for Apprenticeships has been informed by feedback from employers and employer groups such as the CBI, as well as organisations working alongside our employer-led trailblazers to develop new apprenticeship standards. This includes representatives of training providers and sector skills councils.The chair and board members of the Institute will be appointed though a public appointments process in 2016.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff made up the BIS Automotive sector team in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Information on the number of staff in the BIS Automotive sector team over each of the last five years is illustrated in the table below.Year (Calendar)Number of Staff (Full-Time Equivalent)201115201215201317201420201520

Apprentices

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the apprenticeship targets for public sector organisations announced in the report, English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 Vision, published on 7 December 2015, will include targets for the creation of apprenticeships at Level 3 and above.

Nick Boles: We do not intend to set any targets for the creation of apprenticeships at specific levels.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from the Automotive Council on the long-term sustainability of automotive manufacturing in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Government has regular and constructive dialogue with the automotive industry – including through the Automotive Council, which is taking a leadership position in ensuring the sustainable growth of the sector in the UK.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Mckinsey and Company

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost to the public purse was of the internal review commissioned by his Department from McKinsey.

Joseph Johnson: The cost of the review conducted by McKinsey was disclosed on 9 November 2015 and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-contract-with-mckinsey.

Higher Education: Disability

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Independent Adjudicator can monitor the implementation by higher education institutions of provision for disabled students who do not have complex needs.

Joseph Johnson: Higher education institutions have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled students and to monitor their compliance with their Equality Act duties. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 require institutions to publish information as to their compliance with the general public sector equality duty.Students who are dissatisfied with the provision of support, and raise their concerns through their institution’s formal complaints procedures, can then also take their case to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. This is a free service for the student.

New Businesses

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage business start-ups and entrepreneurship.

Anna Soubry: The Start-Up Loans scheme supports people wanting to start a business and has provided over 33,500 loans worth over £180 million. The Government is providing further funding to Growth Hubs to help businesses at the local level, as well as cutting taxes on small businesses, extending rate relief and increasing the Employment Allowance.The latest stats from the ONS show that the number of UK start-ups has reached record levels with some 351,000 new businesses launched in 2014.

Unemployment: Young People

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress he has made on reducing the proportion of 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training.

Nick Boles: Figures for those not in education, employment or training (NEET) have fallen to a record low. The proportion of 16 to 24 year olds NEET in England between July and September has fallen compared to the same period last year. These figures show the excellent progress that is being made in providing opportunities for young people.

Green Investment Bank

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will ensure that the Green Investment Bank continues to pursue its principal objectives after its privatisation.

Anna Soubry: The Government is seeking to sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) so it can grow and increase its impact in green sectors, free of the restrictions of being in the public sector.GIB has over £2bn in existing and successful green investments, and employs seventy green sector specialists. This unique green specialism is what will attract investment from investorsAs a key part of any sale discussions, the Government will be asking potential investors to confirm their commitment to GIB’s green values and investment principles and to set out how they propose to protect them.

Apprentices

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase the number of apprentices.

Nick Boles: We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in 2020. In the 2014/15 Academic Year, there were 499,900 apprenticeship starts.Our 2020 Vision for English Apprenticeships sets out how we will increase the number of apprentices and put employers in the driving seat. We are introducing new targets for public sector bodies and extending the successful Apprenticeship Grant for Employers.

Department for International Development

Syria: Reconstruction

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to support the rebuilding of Syria after the end of the conflict in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have committed over £1.1 billion to date, making us the second largest bilateral donor to the international response.The UK is now updating our planning to reflect the timeline envisaged in the Vienna political process and are asking others to do the same. The scale of the task will be enormous, complex and take a long time to complete. The UK’s response will therefore be part of a wider international effort.The initial priorities will be to support stabilisation and transition including safety and security, reconciliation, transitional justice and confidence building measures. Meeting protection and basic needs will remain a priority, along with helping displaced persons to return. We will also look to build local governance structures in liberated areas. Over time the focus will shift to longer-term reconstruction, which includes the re-building of Syria’s shattered infrastructure, economy, services, and society. The expertise of the UN, International Financial Institutions and the private sector will be essential.

Refugees: Overseas Aid

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what preparations the Government is making to provide food and shelter to refugees overseas during the winter.

Mr Desmond Swayne: For many internally displaced Syrians and refugees in the region this will be the fifth winter away from their homes in inadequate shelter. DFID is supporting implementing partners to prepare and respond to the onset of winter across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. In the FY 2015/16 we have provided £221 million for their emergency programmes. Of this total £12.9 million has been committed for specific winter response activities such as the provision of warm clothing, thermal blankets, fuel and cash to support thousands of vulnerable families across the region. Inside Syria, UN agencies supported by the UK are providing assistance in the form of warm clothes, blankets, supplies to help weatherproof houses, and providing influenza vaccinations for those who are most susceptible. Elsewhere in the region, the UN are complementing the provision of goods with distributions of cash to vulnerable refugees and other vulnerable people, to allow them the choice on how to prioritise their winter needs.In addition to our bilateral programming, the UK is providing £35m of unearmarked flexible funding in 2015/16 to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) which can be used to support winterisation across its global caseload.The UK has also responded rapidly to the humanitarian needs of refugees in Europe. For example, the UK has provided in-kind assistance of blankets, sleeping bags and tents through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to ensure refugees and migrants are provided with warmth and comfort during the winter. The UK’s total support for refugees and migrants to address the Mediterranean migration crisis is nearly £25m, of which nearly £16 million is being spent in Europe.

Middle East: Refugee Camps

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which refugee camps in (a) Turkey, (b) Jordan, (c) Iraq and (d) Lebanon have received financial and material support from her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. To date, we have pledged over £1.1 billion. Of this total we have allocated £304 million in Lebanon, £193 million in Jordan, £34 million to Turkey, £19 million to Iraq and the remainder across the region.We have not earmarked our funding for specific refugee camps across the region. We support a range of partners including the UN and international non-governmental organisations that work both in camps and in host communities to provide a range of support for refugees. This includes shelter, water, healthcare and education. The vast majority of refugees in countries neighbouring Syria live in host communities. There are no formal camps in Lebanon; rather refugees are disbursed across the country in host communities.

Poliomyelitis

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to eradicate polio worldwide.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK Government is fully committed to global polio eradication. With a cumulative investment of more than $1.2 billion, the UK is the third largest donor to the eradication effort, and is providing £300 million for 2013 to 2019. UK funding has contributed to a greater than 99% decrease in polio cases since 1988, with no cases reported in Africa for over a year. Only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan – are reporting cases of wild polio in 2015, meaning we are now closer than ever to global eradication.The UK also plays a key role in sustaining global political commitment and in making sure that every penny we, or others, invest in polio is spent well. The UK actively participates on the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Polio Oversight Board and the Finance and Accountability Committee, ensuring a strong focus on results and delivering value for money. During the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the UK re-affirmed our unwavering commitment to fighting polio encouraging others to join us in the final push towards global polio eradication.

Nigeria: Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance the UK has provided to the government of Nigeria for (a) development of the education system in that country and (b) promotion of education aimed at countering extremist ideologies; and what support the UK provides to the government of Nigeria in monitoring what is taught in madrassas in that country.

Mr Nick Hurd: Over the last 5 years DFID’s education programmes have supported federal, state and local government education systems as well as schools, communities and teachers to enable over 600,000 children to access better quality basic education. This support has included teacher training, activities to improve access for the most marginalised children including girls, and working with the government to improve education management and financing.In Nigeria, where access to education is low, ensuring that children have learning opportunities to acquire basic skills is a critical element in reducing their vulnerability to extremist ideologies. Our teacher training and school improvement approaches promote inclusion and positive values. DFID is working with Quranic schools in northern Nigeria to integrate basic education into their curriculum, including a social studies syllabus with lessons on religious diversity. DFID programmes have provided assistance to the government of Nigeria to design and implement a training programme for Imams and Islamic scholars in communication to counter radical messages. We also support state government institutions to monitor Quranic schools.

Ghana: Elections

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the extent of electoral fraud in Ghana; and whether her Department has participated in election observation in Ghana in the past and what plans it has to do so in future.

Mr Nick Hurd: DFID supported the conclusion of the UNDP Needs Assessment Mission conducted 3-11 November 2014, that the Ghana Electoral Commission, despite its good reputation, continues to suffer from many challenges, primarily poor performance in managing the voters register; inadequate coordination among other institutions involved in the electoral process; and lack of communication and consultations with key stakeholders, including political parties. This increases the potential for electoral fraud. DFID staff have participated in previous election observation and plan to do so again, as part of the overall UK effort to support Ghana in achieving peaceful and credible elections in 2016.

Disease Control: Overseas Aid

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the £1 billion Ross Fund will be spent.

Mr Nick Hurd: The £1 billion Ross Fund, announced in November 2015, will target infectious diseases including malaria, diseases with epidemic potential, neglected tropical diseases which affect over a billion people globally, and antimicrobial resistance which poses a substantial and growing threat to global health. The goal of the Ross Fund is to develop, test and deliver a range of new products (including vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to help combat these diseases in developing countries. The finer details about the Fund are currently under development

Disease Control: Overseas Aid

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the £1 billion over five years for use by the Ross Fund in conjunction with the Gates Foundation is UK Aid funded.

Mr Nick Hurd: All of the £1 billion Ross Fund, announced in November 2015, is UK Aid funded. Discussions are underway with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about how their investments can contribute to the objectives of the Fund.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of aid to Syria to strengthening the moderate opposition's capacity to provide governance and basic services.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion to date, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. This makes us the second largest bilateral donor. Of this total, the UK has allocated £561 million to support vulnerable people inside Syria to date.By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria had provided over 15.1 million food rations; access to clean water for over 1.6 million people (peak month); 2 million medical consultations; more than 4 million relief packages; and there have been over 6.9 million instances when people benefited from sanitation and hygiene activities. We are also helping those who feel safe to do so to stay in Syria by building their ability to cope, helping the moderate opposition to provide governance and essential services, and supporting the provision of education and jobs.The UK will continue to punch above its weight in supporting the reconstruction of Syria. That is why, on 26 November, the Prime Minister signalled that the UK will commit at least £1 billion to Syria’s reconstruction in the longer term.

Eritrea: Droughts

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the effect of the drought in the Horn of Africa on Eritrea and (b) the response of the Eritrean government and the international community to that drought.

Mr Nick Hurd: Official food security and nutrition data for Eritrea for this year has not yet been released, but the late onset of rains, relatively low volume of rainfall, and significant soil moisture deficits are likely to have had a negative impact on both farming and pastoral communities. The country and regional offices of the World Food Programme and UNICEF are monitoring the situation closely.DFID is funding nutrition support activities in areas affected by El Nino in the Horn of Africa through UNICEF’s regional programme, which covers Eritrea

Department for Education

Children: Protection

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to respond to the Children's Commissioner's report, Protecting Children from Harm, published in November 2015.

Edward Timpson: The report captures the findings from the first part of the Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into child sexual abuse in the family environment. The Government will give careful consideration to the findings of the full inquiry when it is completed in December 2016.Tackling child abuse is a priority for this Government. This Government has set up the first ever cross-government Ministerial Child Protection Taskforce to overhaul the way police, schools, social services and others work together in tackling this abhorrent crime. The taskforce’s work will build on the Government’s wide-ranging reforms to create a care system that puts children’s needs first. This includes the appointment of a Chief Social Worker to champion reform in the profession, a £400 million investment in social work training, and cuts to bureaucracy to free up social workers to do what they do best.We have also invested an extra £100m to support vulnerable children and we areproviding £7m for services supporting survivors of child abuse.The Government is committed to driving forward fundamental reforms to protect the most vulnerable children in our society and give them the opportunity to succeed.

Counter-terrorism

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will publish the guidance it has issued to schools and colleges for the implementation of Prevent strategy activities for all age groups.

Edward Timpson: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



The government published statutory guidance on the Prevent duty for specified authorities, including schools, in March 2015. In September 2015 the government published Prevent duty guidance specifically for colleges and universities.To complement the statutory guidance, the Department for Education has issued practical advice to schools and childcare providers to help them understand their role under the new Prevent duty. Together with Home Office, the Department also published a briefing note on how social media is used to encourage travel to Syria and Iraq. The Department’s core statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges, Keeping Children Safe in Education, was updated in July to reflect the Prevent duty.All of the above documents are publicly available via the Department’s dedicated preventing extremism website on gov.uk. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-extremism-in-schools-and-childrens-services/preventing-extremism-in-the-education-and-childrens-services-sectors).

Mental Health: Young People

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help prevent loneliness and social isolation among younger people.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



Loneliness and isolation in younger people may be due to a variety of complex reasons and there is no single solution; prevention and early intervention are key. The Department for Education’s provisions for early years, schools and vulnerable children all play a part in promoting social contact and assisting families to support children more effectively.Schools can play a significant role in promoting good mental health and emotional wellbeing, which helps their pupils integrate and get the most out of the education, by supporting children and young people who are facing difficulties. Every state-funded school in England must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural and physical development of pupils. In doing so, we expect schools to make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and to provide a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for pupils to develop their character.When loneliness and isolation leads to mental health difficulties, there is a range of support available to schools. Our Mental Health and Behaviour advice helps teachers to identify and support pupils with mental health needs, including being aware of when children become withdrawn and isolated: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2. Our blueprint for school counselling services provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice on how to deliver high quality school based counselling: www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.The government has made children and young people’s mental health support a priority and we are investing an additional £1.4 billion in children and young people’s and perinatal mental health services over the next 5 years. On top of this the Department for Education is also providing funding worth £4.9 million this year, through a dedicated mental health strand within our VCS programme, which includes supporting children and young people with issues such as bereavement. For those children and young people with caring responsibility, who are particularly at risk of isolation, we have changed the law to make it easier for them to get an assessment of their needs for support regardless of the level or type of care they provide.

Food: Education

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children and young people acquire the skills necessary to make healthy food choice.

Edward Timpson: There are opportunities across the school curriculum for children to be taught the skills they need to make healthy food choices. In science lessons at key stages 1 and 2, children are taught to describe the importance for humans of exercise and eating the right amounts of different types of food and that humans need the right types and amount of nutrition. In secondary science, children are taught about the content of a healthy human diet, such as carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and water, and why each is needed. They also learn about the consequences of imbalances in the diet, including obesity.In design and technology lessons (key stages 1 to 3), children are taught about food, nutrition and healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes. Pupils in primary schools are taught about healthy eating and the importance of a good, balanced diet. In secondary schools, children’s knowledge becomes more in-depth as they learn how to feed themselves and others affordably and well and learn where their food comes from.Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education also provides opportunities for pupils to learn about health and wellbeing, including being taught what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating.It is important that children eat nutritious, tasty food at school as fuel for learning, to help their growth and development and so that they develop healthy eating habits. The School Food Standards, introduced in January 2015, severely restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. They help ensure that pupils always have healthy options for their school lunch.

Ministry of Justice

Cremation: Regulation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to launch its consultation on amending regulations on crematoriums.

Caroline Dinenage: In my written statement of 8 July 2015 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-07-08/HCWS88/http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-07-08/HCWS88/) I announced my intention to launch a consultation on changes to cremation legislation by the end of the year. I can confirm that this remains my intention; the consultation will be launched shortly.

Environment Protection: Civil Proceedings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals to increase the cost cap for environmental legal challenges to £10,000 for individuals on the affordability of such challenges for such people.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice will keep the impact of any changes to the cost capping scheme for environmental claims under review as part of its consideration of the consultation responses. We will also carry out a full impact assessment on any changes and this will be published as part of the government’s response paper.

Sentencing: Appeals

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether victims of crime are informed (a) when prisoners appeal against their sentences and (b) the progress of such appeals.

Mike Penning: Victims of crime are informed of any notice of appeal; the date, time and location of any hearing and the outcome of that appeal, including any changes to the original sentence in accordance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.Victims are notified of this information on appeals from the magistrates’ courts to the Crown Court within one working day. For appeals from the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal, vulnerable or intimidated victims will receive this information within one working day and for all other victims of crime within five working days.

Prisoners: Mothers

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on allowing female prisoners with young children access to those children.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department issues to prisons on female prisoners' access to and rights to care for young children.

Caroline Dinenage: The policy and guidance on the treatment of female offenders is contained in Prison Service Order 4800, which can be found at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8yJvt2N3JAhVFuBQKHTxXAwcQFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.gov.uk%2Fdownloads%2Foffenders%2Fpsipso%2Fpso%2FPSO_4800_women_prisoners.doc&usg=AFQjCNHEKdUSQ34oce66F47zApSRhF35Iw

Prisoners: Mothers

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what research his Department has conducted on the effect on children of the imprisonment of their mothers.

Caroline Dinenage: The Ministry of Justice has recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders (located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/female-offenders-and-child-dependents) but has not specifically conducted research on the impact of imprisonment on children.

Knives: Crime

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted and given mandatory sentences for two knife crime convictions in the last three years.

Andrew Selous: Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 provides for a minimum custodial sentence for a second (or further) conviction for possession of a knife or offensive weapon. This provision was commenced by the Government on 17 July 2015 and applies to those offenders who committed a second offence after this date. The latest quarterly sentencing bulletin for knife possession offences contains information about repeat offences:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/483951/knife-possession-sentencing-bulletin-q3-2015.pdf .These statistics only show a small number of cases of knife crime possession dealt with under the most recent sentencing provisions, given the short time since implementation. However, the next quarterly bulletin will start to provide a clearer picture of the impact of the minimum sentence, but we would normally look to assess the impact of a new provision on the basis of at least 12 months data.

Maghaberry Prison: Inspections

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent Inspectorate report of HM Prison Maghaberry.

Andrew Selous: Prisons are a devolved matter and responsibility for HMP Maghaberry lies with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice.

Manchester Prison: Ownership

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his plans are for the future ownership of HM Prison Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: There are no current plans to change the ownership of HMP Manchester.

Prisons: Closures

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons he intends to close; and what consultation is taking place or is planned to take place on those closures.

Andrew Selous: No decisions have yet been made on which prisons will be closed. After the announcement of a closure, the Ministry of Justice will work actively with stakeholders to ensure that we manage the local impact of a prison closure.

Fraud: Solicitors

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to raise awareness amongst solicitors of the risks of their clients being targeted in scams by people purporting to operate in the name of their solicitor requesting transfer of funds; and what estimate he has made of the number of such scams that took place in the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), as an independent regulator, is well aware of the risks identified by the honourable member. It regularly issues scam alerts and in July this year published a paper outlining key risks. This paper will be updated again next spring. The SRA has advised that in 2014 it issued 183 scam alerts.

Prisoners: Parents

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children in England and Wales who have a parent in custody.

Andrew Selous: The information requested is not held centrally.

Prisons: Visits

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many visits have been made by one or more children to a parent in custody in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: This information is not held centrally.

Prisons: Employment

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are employed in prisons in (a) the most recent period for which figures are available and (b) each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition, with incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to prioritise education and work.That is why all prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We work continuously with employers nationally and locally – including with other Government Departments - to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.NOMS uses a specific definition of 'work' which is only used for commercial and industrial scale work and specific work activities[1].These figures do not include the substantial number of prisoners in other learning, vocational training and work opportunities within prison on tasks such as cooking, serving meals, maintenance and cleaning which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. The figures also exclude work placements undertaken by offenders on release from prison on temporary licence.Work in prisons continues to grow steadily, with 14.9 million working hours delivered in the year 14/15. In the same year, on average 11,500 prisoners and detainees were undertaking specific work activities1 in custody at any one time across public sector prisons, privately-managed prisons and Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).As part of our programme of prison reform, we are determined to build on this, so that prisons can help offenders get the skills and qualifications to make a success of life on the outside. To do this we need to put the tools to drive this change in the hands of those at the frontline who best know what works. Prison Governors need freedom to innovate and find better ways of rehabilitating offenders, including through a focus on work, in a system geared towards innovation and local partnerships.Figures are published in the NOMS Annual Report 2014/15: Management Information Addendum on the Gov.uk website at the following location: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-performance-statistics-2014-to-2015.Table 17 of the publication shows the average number of prisoners working in industrial activities in public sector prisons only in the years 2010/11 to 2014/15. Figures for privately-managed prisons and IRCs are not available prior to 2014/15.[1] Including Enterprise/Contract Services, Engineering, Aluminium, Laundry, Newgate Furniture, Concrete, Plastics, Textiles, Woodwork, Food Packing, Commercial Land Based Activities, Braille, Charity, Printing, Data Entry, Signs, Desk Top Publishing, Retail, External Recycling and other workshops.

Prisons: Employment

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison workshops have (a) opened, (b) closed and (c) changed function in each of the last seven years.

Andrew Selous: The information requested is not held centrally.All prisons provide opportunities for offenders to work and learn new skills which can help them find a job on release and support their rehabilitation. We already work continuously with employers nationally and locally – including with other Government Departments - to create new opportunities in line with our code of practice.We want prisons to be places of hard work, rigorous education and high ambition. That is why we will put the tools to drive change in the hands of those at the frontline who know best.

Prisons: Visits

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is on prison visit booking lines (a) in each prison and (b) overall.

Andrew Selous: This information is not held centrally.

Crime

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new criminal offences have been (a) created and (b) proposed since May 2015; and if he will make an assessment of the (i) effect on and (b)cost to the prison estate of the creation of those offences.

Mike Penning: The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.My department has issued guidance on the making of new criminal offences, which is located here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481126/creating-new-criminal-offences.pdf

Prison Service: Staff

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer grade staff were employed by NOMS on 31 March in each year since 2010; and how many such people were employed on the latest day for which statistics are available.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officer grade staff have (a) joined and (b) left the prison service in each of the last six years.

Andrew Selous: Information on the number of Band 3 to 5 prison officers in post, and on the number who joined and left the public sector Prison Service, is published in the National Offender Management Service Workforce Statistics Bulletin. The 30 September edition of the bulletin can be found at the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics-september-2015

Prime Minister

UK Membership of EU

Kate Hoey: To ask the Prime Minister, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Islington North and (b) the Labour Party on his renegotiation of the terms of UK membership of the EU (a) in general and (b) about the matters that should be taken into account in that process; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: I have not received any written representations from the Leader of the Opposition or from the Labour Party.

Members: Correspondence

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to reply to the letter of 26 November 2015 from the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West regarding mass executions in Saudi Arabia.

Mr David Cameron: A reply has been sent.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Sportsgrounds

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing safe-standing facilities at higher tier sports stadia.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to respond to Question 12142, tabled by the hon. Member for Coventry South on 15 October 2015.

Tracey Crouch: The Government believes that all-seater stadiums are the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at football in England and Wales. All-seater stadiums have helped improve crowd management, crowd behaviour and policing. They also provide more comfortable facilities to enjoy football matches.

National Lottery

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish National Lottery income statistics for each region in England.

Tracey Crouch: Information on the derivation of National Lottery Good Cause income by region is not currently collected by Government.National Lottery good cause money is allocated by expert bodies at arm’s length from Government and information can be found on the National Lottery Grants Database at the following link (http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk); and from Lottery Distributors’ own websites.

Internet: Classification Schemes

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage more online platforms to carry prominent age ratings and content advice for music videos classified by the British Board of Film Classification; and what steps he is taking to link such age ratings to parental control.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Government is committed to working with music labels and platforms towards seeing age ratings on all online music videos. Under the industry’s voluntary ratings scheme for online music videos,which is an initiative that I started,more than 150 music videos have been age rated by the BBFC to date and the ratings appear alongside them on YouTube and Vevo.Work is continuing with industry to encourage them to further develop the online ratings scheme, including making the ratings more visible on online platforms and ensuring the ratings work as effectively as possible with parental controls.

Broadband

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will reintroduce the Super Highway Broadband Voucher Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The £40m government-funded Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme - which closed to new applications on 12 October 2015 - was a huge success, issuing well over 50,000 vouchers, as well as funding the cost of installation of wi-fi in more than 1500 public buildings. We have no plans to reintroduce the scheme, though it is worth noting that some commercial providers, such as Virgin media, are now offering free installation of business broadband.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Labour Mobility

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in his Department are in the redeployment pool.

Mr Edward Vaizey: None.

Video Games: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government has provided to video games development companies in Dundee since 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey: In 2014 Government introduced video games tax relief to support UK games development, including eligible projects in Dundee. In addition, this Autumn, a 4-year £4 million UK Games Fund was launched. This fund, administered from Dundee and London, includes grants for young games development businesses around the UK, and there has been a strong response from Dundee games developers for calls for applications. The Fund follows our earlier successful video games prototype fund, run by Abertay University in Dundee from 2010 - 2014, and our support for expansion of the university’s games lab which benefitted a number of Dundee games developers. Dundee games developers are also able to access a range of other schemes including the Research and Development tax credit, the Tradeshow Access Programme and Government match-funding from the Skills Investment Fund which is managed by Creative Skillset.

Digital Technology: Training

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress his Department has made in helping improve digital skills in the workforce.

Mr Edward Vaizey: This Government is committed to improving digital skills in the workforce and creating a strong digital skills talent pool. Recent schemes include working with the Open University to create a free online course ‘Introduction to Cyber Security’, taken up by 70,000 learners, and reformed apprenticeships to provide employers with the digital skills they need in the workforce. From September 2015, 300 degree level digital apprenticesstartedtheir programmes - double what wasoriginallyannounced -providing the digital and professional skills that employers needand value.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's rural satellite broadband voucher scheme, what estimate he has made of the average cost of (a) installation and (b) a 12 months subscription to 2 megabit rural satellite broadband services.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The initiative will be administered by local authorities who will provide a code to eligible homes and businesses upon request. The code does not have a specific fixed value, but when used to obtain a satellite broadband service from one of the selected retail service providers, the use of the code will reduce the total cost (i.e. installation and commissioning costs plus 12 monthly subscriptions) by around £350.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the planned budget is for the rural satellite broadband voucher scheme; and from which of his Department's funding headings that budget has been allocated.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The budget is £60 million,funded from the Local Body contracts with BT.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which suppliers will accept rural satellite broadband vouchers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Four suppliers are currently providing access to satellite broadband through the government’s subsidy scheme: Avonline, Corsat, Digiweb, and Primetech. Further suppliers are in the process of seeking to join the scheme.

Sports: Drugs

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with sports clubs to discourage young people from taking performance enhancing drugs.

Tracey Crouch: Performance enhancing drugs remain a threat to the integrity of sport and the health and wellbeing of all our athletes. The Government supports the work of UK Anti-Doping which works tirelessly to ensure athletes and sport are clean. Through testing programmes, intelligence sharing with law-enforcement agencies on supplying and trafficking, and its excellent athlete education initiatives, UKAD is one of the world's most highly regarded national anti-doping organisations.

Sports: Hearing Impaired

Lucy Frazer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that the Deaflympics are recognised as equal to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tracey Crouch: Government recognises the importance of deaf sport to those who take part at both grassroots and elite level. Sport England is investing £365,872 in UK Deaf Sport between 2014 and 2017 in recognition of this.Questions of official recognition at an international level are a matter for the International Olympic Committee.

West Ham United Football Club

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has had discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation about EU state aid rules and West Ham United Football Club's occupancy of the Olympic Stadium.

Tracey Crouch: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not had any discussions with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) about EU state aid rules and the West Ham United Football Club contract. The contract relating to West Ham United Football Club's use of the Olympic Stadium is between the West Ham and the LLDC.

Gaming Machines

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to assist bookmakers in reducing (a) crime on their premises and (b) the incidence of malicious damage to fixed odds betting terminals.

Tracey Crouch: With support from Government, and by working directly with police forces across the UK, the gambling industry is committed to tackling and reducing crime and bringing those who commit crimes against shop staff, customers and property to justice.

Gaming Machines

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with regard to fixed odds betting terminals, what steps are being taken to (a) ensure that the player protection measures introduced from April 2015 are effectively evaluated and (b) independently assess whether the £50 threshold for supervised play is set at an effective level.

Tracey Crouch: The Government, along with the Gambling Commission, is in the process of evaluating the effects of ending unsupervised stakes over £50 and I hope to publish the results early in the new year.

Telecommunications: Disability

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will commission research on the proportion of public and private service providers which offer access to their services through video relay.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Annual correspondence with the FTSE 100 companieshas indicated that from 2013 to present there has been a steady increase in the number of companies that provide video relay. With regards to public sector, DWP plan to launch a pilot service by the end of the year.

Communication Service Providers: Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) Talk Talk and (b) other internet service providers on measures that can be taken to prevent breaches of security relating to customer data.

Mr Edward Vaizey: My Departmenthas been in contact with TalkTalk from the early stages of this incident, but this remains primarily a matter for the company itself and for law enforcementThis Governmenttakes issues of customer data protection very seriously, andhas regular discussions with internet service providers and telecommunications companies on the resilience and security of services. I recently wrote to FTSE 350 companies to remind them of the steps the Government expects them to take and the robust procedures businesses need to have in place. I also invited them to take part in the Government's annual Cyber Governance Health Check to help companies understand and improve their level of cyber security.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment Schemes: Young People

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 12462, when he expects to announce further policy details of the Youth Obligation.

Priti Patel: The detailed policy design is still under development. We will make further announcements over the coming months as we develop the policy detail.

Work Capability Assessment

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on women with a mental function problem of the different assessment recommended for them in its Work Capability Assessment handbook on risk of self-harm, suicide or other risk.

Priti Patel: The Department took its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 into account when making changes to the WCA handbook and recognises it has an on-going equality duty under the Act and is committed to complying with this duty.

Universal Credit: Homelessness

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that conditionality requirements for jobseekers in receipt of universal credit are eased during periods when an individual claimant is homeless.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Employment: Disability

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of disabled people in work in (a) Dorset and (b) the South West.

Justin Tomlinson: In the last two years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by 339,000. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.The Spending Review announced a real terms funding increase to help people with health conditions and disabilities return to, and remain in, work.In the South West, disabled people who want to work can get support from Jobcentre Plus and a range of employment programmes such as Work Programme, Work Choice and Specialist Employment Support. Access to Work provides additional support for individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job.To support and increase the number of disabled people into employment we are offering a more tailored personalised package of employment support in Greater Wessex which includes Dorset. The Personalisation Pathfinder provides disabled people in Greater Wessex with a more personalised and flexible employment support package that puts the individual at the heart of the employment offer.

Universal Credit: Homelessness

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures his Department has put in place to ensure that conditionality requirements for jobseekers who are in receipt of universal credit, as set out in each individual's Claimant Commitment, take into account whether the individual may be homeless.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 17647, if he will carry out a survey of women's attitudes to state pension equalisation.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department has no plans to carry out a survey of women’s attitudes to State Pension age equalisation. It has been Government policy since 1995 that the inequality between men and women’s State Pensions Ages must be removed.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to make decisions about changes to housing benefit entitlements for tenants of supported accommodation before the completion of research in this area which has been commissioned by the Department.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department has jointly commissioned an evidence review with DCLG looking at the size and scope of the supported housing sector. The results of this research will guide our consideration for future policy development.

Personal Independence Payment: Veterans

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether injured army veterans are exempt from personal independence payment assessments.

Justin Tomlinson: Service personnel and veterans who are entitled to a Guaranteed Income Payment of 50% or higher through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) are eligible to apply for Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) instead of having to claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Entitlement to AFIP does not involve an assessment other than by reference to the AFCS award.All individuals claiming PIP are subject to an assessment of their daily living and mobility needs. In the majority of claims an assessment will involve a face-to-face consultation with an independent health professional. Assessments may also be carried out on paper evidence alone. We ask claimants to provide any evidence that they have to hand when they submit their PIP2 questionnaire. Such evidence could include evidence used or received in relation to a claim for AFCS or a War Pension. We also ask claimants to tell us who should be contacted in case further evidence is required.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of change of housing benefit for tenants in supported accommodation as a result of changes to housing benefit announced in the Autumn Statement 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit will only apply from April 2018 where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.The Department is working on the exact policy design details for tenants in supported accommodation.

Pensioners: Salford and Eccles

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Salford and Eccles constituency are in receipt of (a) pension credit and (b) the carer addition.

Justin Tomlinson: The number of claimants in receipt of Pension Credit in Salford and Eccles constituency as at May 2015 is 4,750, of which 440 are also in receipt of the carer addition.Source: DWP, 100% data.Notes:Figures are rounded to the nearest ten; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. May 2015 is the latest available data.STATE PENSION AGE: The age at which men and women reach State Pension age is gradually increasing. Under current legislation, State Pension age for women will equalise with State Pension age for men at 65 in 2018. Both men's and women's State Pension age will increase from 65 to 66 between December 2018 and October 2020. The Pensions Bill 2013-14 contains provision for a State Pension age of 67 to be reached by 2028. For more information see:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207966/espa.pdf.Parliamentary Constituency of claimant (Westminster) these constituencies are used for the Westminster parliament.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Written Statement of 10 December 2015, HCWS377, on universal credit and local authorities, how he will define reasonable efforts to redeploy staff.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Written Statement of 10 December 2015, HCWS377, on universal credit and local authorities, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of people employed by local authorities to administer housing benefit, (b) the number of such employees likely to be made redundant as a result of the universal credit roll-out, (c) the total cost to the public purse of such redundancies, (d) the total number of staff that will be required to administer universal credit at a local level once the roll-out is complete and (e) the number of people currently employed by his Department in that capacity.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) jobseekers' allowance and (b) universal credit claimants have been (i) referred for an assessment of the their English language skills, (ii) mandated to undertake learning following such an assessment and (iii) sanctioned for failing to attend such learning sessions.

Priti Patel: In the 2013/14 academic year, there were 57,200 starts to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training aims by JSA and ESA (WRAG) claimants, and 72,700 in total by all claimants (excluding UC) in England only. This includes starts to training as part of the English Language Requirements (ELR) policy. DWP does not currently hold data on the number of claimants starting ESOL under UC.DWP does not hold specific data on the number of sanctions for failing to attend ESOL training.Information on the number of starts to DWP-funded ELR training in Scotland Wales is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics. DWP is exploring publishing these statistics in summer 2016 as an official statistics release in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who his Department has consulted on the development of the UK's Air Power Doctrine; and when he expects to publish that doctrine.

Penny Mordaunt: Work will commence on the next UK Air and Space Doctrine in the summer of 2016 and it is expected to be published in 2017. As with the previous version published in 2013, the RAF will consult widely across Defence as well as in the academic community. Research will draw on similar work from sources such as NATO and the United States Air Force.In addition, the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) will review the related Joint Doctrine Note (JDN): The UK Approach to Unmanned Systems. The intention is to publish the revised doctrine by autumn 2016.

HMS Ocean

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when HMS Ocean was last refitted; how much that refit cost; and what the intended out-of-service date was stated to be at the time of that refit.

Mr Philip Dunne: Work on the last refit of HMS Ocean began in December 2012 and was completed in August 2014 at a cost of £71 million. The timing of the refit was driven by the mandatory requirement to revalidate the ships safety and environmental certification.The decommissioning date of 2018 is the same as that planned at the time of her refit.

HMS Ocean

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which individual ships will fulfil the roles currently carried out by HMS Ocean when she is withdrawn from service; and what numbers of (a) amphibious forces and (b) helicopters are carried by (i) HMS Ocean and (ii) the substitute ships.

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which roles currently fulfilled by HMS Ocean will be carried out by HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales when they enter service; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm9161), we will enhance a Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carrier to support our amphibious capability. Together with existing amphibious ships of the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, this will provide the capacity and capability to deploy our amphibious forces.HMS OCEAN can carry up to 690 Embarked Military Forces (EMF) - Royal Marines and Aviation Group personnel - in addition to her ship's company. She can deploy a variety of helicopter types in multiple combinations as required by her mission and role.The QEC aircraft carriers can embark up to 900 EMF, in addition to their ship's company, in support of their missions and tasks and a flexible mix of helicopters subject to the operational tasking.

Navy: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned expenditure is on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Navy Reserve in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19 and (v) 2019-20.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned expenditure is on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Army and (b) Army Reserve in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19 and (v) 2019-20.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned expenditure is on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Air Force and (b) Royal Air Force Reserve in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19 and (v) 2019-20.

Penny Mordaunt: The expenditure, or planned expenditure, of each Service on television recruitment campaigns in Financial Year (FY) 2015-16 is as follows:Naval Service - planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £4.3 million for Regular personnel and £0.72 million for Reserves.Army - planned expenditure is £0.94 million for Regular personnel and £0.65 million for Reserves.Royal Air Force (RAF) - planned expenditure has not been finalised but is currently forecast to be £3.46 million. It is not possible to differentiate between Regular and Reserve spend as the majority of RAF advertisements are targeted towards both cadres.Plans for expenditure in FY 2016-17 and onwards have not been finalised.

Syria: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK Reaper supporting the US drone strike on Mohammad Emwazi in Syria on 12 November 2015 (a) used its laser designator capability to identify the target and (b) was armed.

Penny Mordaunt: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Defence: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations the UK has made to other NATO member states on committing two per cent of their gross domestic product to defence.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) to Question 13408 on 30 October 2015.



Defence Expenditure
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Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.62 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015, what projection he has made of the savings to the public purse from the sale of 30 per cent of the built estate.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence is developing a Footprint Strategy to enable the reduction of its built estate by 30% by 2040. This Strategy is currently being developed and is due to be published in 2016. It is therefore too soon to state what scale of efficiencies might be achieved from our intended estate rationalisation.

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.62 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015, what estimate he has made of the revenue that will be received from the sale of 30 per cent of the built estate.

Mark Lancaster: As stated in the Spending Review 2015 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) expects to generate £1 billion through the disposal of sites in the financial years 2016-17 to 2020-21.The MOD does not disclose annual breakdowns due to the potential for prejudice to its commercial interests.

Armed Forces: Scotland

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.98 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published on 23 November 2015; how many of the 10,000 military personnel available to assist civil authorities are (a) based in Scotland and (b) available to be used to assist civil authorities in Scotland.

Penny Mordaunt: Under the deployment plan the Ministry of Defence and police have identified a range of security tasks that the military will undertake in order to release police firearms officers to respond to a major counter-terrorism (CT) incident. A proportion of these are in Scotland although we do not reveal the specific numbers of personnel involved for reasons of operational security.The plan also allows us to generate a far more significant surge of military personnel to deploy in response to a major CT incident. These personnel deploy across the UK, including in Scotland. Military units have a responsibility for this task on a rolling basis, including the 9,810 personnel based in Scotland.

Nuclear Weapons

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Parliament will be asked to vote on a decision to replace the warheads used for the successor nuclear weapon programme.

Michael Fallon: As stated in paragraph 4.72 of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review: "Work continues to determine the optimum life of the UK's existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options. A replacement warhead is not required until at least the late 2030s, possibly later. Given lead times, however, a decision on replacing the warhead may be required in this Parliament or early in the next." The Government will inform Parliament of its intended approach in due course.

Trident

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, if he will publish the membership of the team set up to deal with the Trident successor programme.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement (Mr Dunne) on 3 December 2015 to Question number 17976 to the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn).



Nuclear Weapons
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Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many remotely piloted aircraft system pilots are employed in the RAF; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: There are currently 40 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System pilots in the Royal Air Force.

Military Attaches

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 12325, whether encouraging UK military exports to that country form part of the Defence Attaché's duties in each case.

Mr Julian Brazier: Yes, Defence Attachés are to support and promote UK Defence Exports.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is negotiating for a UK support element within the contact negotiations for the P8; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 3 December 2015 to Question 17838.



Military Aircraft
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Rivet Joint Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what level of UK support has been negotiated for the Rivetjoint platforms; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: A Memorandum of Understanding with the US Government provides for the in-service support and upgrade activity of the UK Rivet Joint fleet. All maintenance support is conducted in the UK by RAF personnel, with assistance from field service representatives provided under the US/UK cooperative agreement. Some minor support activity is also provided by UK contractors based at RAF Waddington and there are contracts with a number of UK companies that support the Ministry of Defence in managing compliance with UK safety, airworthiness and security regulations.

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the air to air refuelling capability is of the P8 MPA with the UK Voyager fleet; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 3 December 2015 to Question 17840.



Military Aircraft
(Word Document, 14.27 KB)

Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) stormshadow and (b) stingray will be utilised on the P8 MPA; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department intends to bring the P-8A into service without significant modification to ensure the delivery of operational capability as soon as is practicable. There are no current plans to integrate Stormshadow and Stingray onto the aircraft, though it is possible that future capability enhancements once the aircraft is in service with the RAF may include UK weapons.

Nimrod Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many support jobs were lost when the Nimrod MRA4 was decommissioned; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold any records relating to the number of support jobs which may have been lost as a result of the cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Armed Forces: Training

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18406, whether his Department assesses the cost of any training courses undertaken by (a) RAF, (b) navy and (c) army personnel at (i) Granton-on-Spey, (ii) Llanrwst, (iii) Crickhowell and (iv) Fairbourne; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 7 December to Question 18571 where the operating costs for each centre from the past four financial years was provided. It is not possible to provide costs per training event as, due to the variation in course length, delivery is measured on the total number of training weeks delivered, which was also provided in that response.



Armed Forces Training
(Word Document, 16.71 KB)

British Overseas Territories: Territorial Waters

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to monitor unauthorised entry into British territorial waters around British Overseas Territories.

Penny Mordaunt: Territorial waters around the British Overseas Territories are monitored through a variety of means. The level of monitoring is commensurate with any potential threat.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Homelessness

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children were accepted by local authorities as (a) homeless and (b) homeless and in priority need in each of the last six years.

Mr Marcus Jones: The information requested is not held centrally.

Temporary Accommodation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department plans to take to assist local authorities for which the cost of providing temporary accommodation exceeds their pre-allocated share of funding.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how local authority funding allocations for temporary accommodation will be calculated over the Spending Review period.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, on what basis the total amount allocated to local authorities for funding temporary accommodation has been calculated.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more. The Department for Communities and Local Government will set out the precise detail of how the new funding will be distributed in 2016/17. The Department will work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure that funding will be allocated in order to most effectively help councils tackle homelessness.

Non-domestic Rates

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on plans to allow local councils to retain business rates.

Mr Marcus Jones: DCLG confirmed at the Spending Review our intention, by the end of this Parliament, to allow local government to keep 100% of the business rates they raise locally. We have had initial discussions with local government representative bodies and individual authorities about the reform programme. We will broaden and deepen those discussions in the New Year.

Social Rented Housing

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations which had planned, prior to the announcement in paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, to raise rents above any of the relevant local housing allowance rates between 2016 and 2020.

Brandon Lewis: The Department does not hold information about the individual rent setting plans of local authorities or housing associations.At Budget 2015 the Government announced its intention to reduce rents for housing association and local authority tenants, by 1% a year, for four years, from April 2016. This will help protect social tenants from rising housing costs, whilst protecting taxpayers from rising costs of subsidising rents through housing benefit. We expect local authorities and housing associations to be planning on this basis.

Refugees: Syria

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what help his Department will provide to assist local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees over the next five years.

Richard Harrington: Local authorities have played a vital role in helping those Syrian refugees arriving here to settle into a new life in the UK. The Syrian Resettlement Team, made up of officials from Home Office, DCLG and DFID, is working closely with those local authorities that wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, helping to manage the process of accepting refugees for resettlement, providing help and advice where appropriate.At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.

Housing: Refugees

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps his Department has taken to help councils to house refugees.

Richard Harrington: Those who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection must qualify under local rules set by the relevant local authority and have sufficient priority under the local authority’s allocation scheme to be eligible for social housing, just as anyone else.At the Spending Review the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.

Derelict Land

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Communities and Local Government, on Brownfield Land, Official Report, column 742, when further details of the £1 billion brownfield regeneration fund will be announced; and if he will make a statement.

James Wharton: We announced at the Autumn Statement that the Government is supporting development on brownfield land through a £2 billion Long Term Housing Development Fund to unlock housing development for up to 160,000 homes. This funding will support our key manifesto commitments to create a Brownfield Regeneration Fund and to fund Housing Zones to transform brownfield sites into new housing. At least half of the Long Term Fund will be spent on brownfield projects. The Housing Development Fund will be formally launched in the New Year.

Refugees: Syria

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what financial support his Department plans to provide to local authorities to resettle Syrian refugees in years two to five of the vulnerable persons relocation scheme.

Richard Harrington: At the Spending Review the Government committed around £130 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five. There will also be support for education and healthcare, and a special cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees.

Roads: Lighting

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what encouragement he has given local authorities to switch street lighting to LED light sources since May 2015.

Mr Marcus Jones: Many local authorities are choosing to reduce street lighting at night to save energy costs and reduce carbon emissions using a variety of approaches, which include replacing traditional sodium lamps with more energy efficient LED lamps.However, decisions about street lighting are for elected local councillors, reflecting local circumstances and views.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's target is for time taken to respond to letters and emails from hon. Members; what the average time taken by his Department to respond to such letters and emails is; and how many such letters and emails received between 1 January and 30 September 2015 remained unanswered after eight weeks.

Brandon Lewis: My Department aims to reply to all correspondence from hon. Members within 15 working days.Guidance for Departments on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, Members of the European Parliament and Members of Devolved Administrations is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441892/Cabinet_Office_Guidance_on_correspondence.pdf”Departmental performance on handling correspondence is published annually. The latest publication is available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-06-03/HCWS11/”

Disabled Facilities Grants

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the level of Government spending will be on the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020.

Brandon Lewis: In the 2015 Spending Round, my rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne), announced £500 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant by 2020. Since April 2015, the Grant has been part of the Government's £5.3 billion Better Care Fund, promoting integration with health and social care.Annual allocations for the Disabled Facilities Grant for each year until 2020 will be announced in due course, when they are finalised.

Housing: Construction

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the accessibility requirements will be for the 8,000 new accessible homes announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; and where those homes will be located.

Brandon Lewis: We will be publishing the prospectus for the 2016-21 Affordable Homes Programme in the New Year, which will set out the assessment requirements that bids contributing towards the 8,000 vulnerable, older and disabled peoples housing will be assessed against.

HM Treasury

EU Law: Government Assistance

Kate Hoey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington and (b) the Labour Party on reform of EU state aid rules; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor receives a large number of representations on a wide range of issues including both the EU Budget and EU State Rules. As has been the case with previous administrations, it is not normal practice to release details of such representations.

EU Budget: Reform

Kate Hoey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington and (b) the Labour Party on reform of the EU budget; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor has not received any representations from the Member for Hayes and Harlington on this matter in this Parliament. The Chancellor receives a large number of representations on a wide range of issues including the EU Budget from MPs, including Labour MPs. As has been the case with previous administrations, it is not normal practice to release details of such representations.This Government has secured substantial reform to the EU budget, with the Prime Minister’s deal in 2013 cutting spending for the first time. This deal continues to deliver on prioritising EU spending towards UK priorities.

Child Tax Credits: North East

Bridget Phillipson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received child tax credits in (a) Houghton and Sunderland South constituency and (b) the North East in each year for which figures are available; and what the mean, mode, median and range is of tax credit payments made in those areas in each of those years.

Damian Hinds: The number of families in receipt of Child Tax Credit in (a) Houghton and Sunderland South constituency and (b) the North East in each year are available in the following publications:2013/14:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2013-to-20142012/13: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2012-to-20132011/12: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics2010/11: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121103084242/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/child-wtc-geo-may12.pdfWithin each publication, the requested information is available on Table 3. Families receiving Child Tax Credit consist of out of work families plus in-work families receiving either WTC and CTC or CTC only.The requested statistics are provided in the table below. To ensure claimant anonymity, the 99th percentile of entitlement is shown rather than the range. Houghton and Sunderland South 2013-142012-132011-122010-11Number of families in receipt of Child Tax Credit '0006.56.88.59.6Mean of annualised entitlements £6,2826,1765,3354,918Mode of annualised entitlements £3,2703,238544548Median of annualised entitlements £5,9935,9285,0064,38299th percentile of entitlements £17,73517,21316,56116,683North East2013-142012-132011-122010-11Number of families in receipt of Child Tax Credit '000179.0184.7232.3261.0Mean of annualised entitlements £6,5086,3675,4794,998Mode of annualised entitlements £3,2703,238544548Median of annualised entitlements £5,9935,9285,3414,51899th percentile of annualised entitlements £18,84918,23017,22416,834

Luxembourg: McDonalds Restaurants

Kate Hoey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will request that the European Commissioner for Competition investigate whether McDonald's has reduced its UK tax liability through an unlawful state aid agreement with Luxembourg.

Mr David Gauke: As set out in its press release of 3 December, the European Commission has opened a formal investigation into Luxembourg’s tax treatment of McDonald’s. Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs officials will examine the Commission’s final decision when it is published.

Gun Sports: Taxation

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress HM Revenue and Customs has made in recovering VAT and business rates from the shooting industry in the last five years.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs do not collect business rates. Information on VAT receipts by industry or trade is not held.

Working Tax Credit: Salford and Eccles

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average award of working tax credits is in Salford and Eccles constituency.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in Salford and Eccles constituency are in receipt of working tax credits.

Damian Hinds: Information on the figures you have requested can be found in the publication, Child and Working Tax Credits statistics, finalised annual awards - geographical analysis, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-tax-credits-finalised-award-statistics-geographical-statistics-2013-to-2014   Provisional information on the number of families in receipt of WTC is also available in the publication, Child and Working Tax Credits statistics – geographical analyses: April 2015, found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013

Investment Trusts

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information the Financial Conduct Authority holds on (a) the reasons for which Mourant Fund Services Ltd did not complete its transaction to take over the operation of the Connaught Income Fund in 2009 and (b) whether at the time Mourant Fund Services Ltd was in possession of information about the Connaught Income Fund which should have been reported to the regulatory authorities.

Harriett Baldwin: This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honorable Member Helen Jones by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for the HMRC public service helpline.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has recruited 3,000 new staff into customer service roles this year. In particular, this has increased the number of people available on its telephone helplines outside normal office hours, when many customers choose to call.HMRC has also undertaken its biggest-ever training programme as it seeks to build its customer support teams. This has included training 1,600 existing staff on a wider range of work to better meet customer demand.Average call waiting times have improved significantly. From April to June it was 19 mins; from July to September it was 13 mins; in November it was under 10 minutes.

Public Expenditure

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his Oral statement of 25 November 2015, Official Report, column 1369, on the Spending Review and Autumn Statement, what the evidential basis is for his statement that inequality is down.

Damian Hinds: Household income inequality statistics are produced as part of the Office for National Statistics publication “The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income”, which can be found here:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/household-income/the-effects-of-taxes-and-benefits-on-household-income/2013-2014/index.html

Pay: Taxation

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs is talking to ensure that payroll taxes are collected from employers who pay wages in cash; what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) employers using cash in hand for payroll and (b) employees receiving wages in cash; and what information he holds on the prevalence of payment of wages in cash in different sectors.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes a risk-based approach to employer compliance interventions, checking that employers and contractors have complied with their tax obligations. There are a variety of methods by which employers make payment to their employees, and HMRC will check wages have been received net of the appropriate tax and National Insurance Contributions deductions as part of our compliance intervention activity, regardless of the method of payment. Where this activity identifies that there may be non-compliance with other taxes, HMRC takes steps to address this risk.Where inaccuracies are found, HMRC will consider whether a penalty is appropriate based on the behaviour which led to the inaccuracy. The penalty will be highest in circumstances in which the behaviour which led to the inaccuracy was deliberate.HMRC is conducting research into the role of cash in facilitating non-compliance, and into the trends which are likely to change that role. As part of this work, on 25 November 2015 HMRC published a call for evidence on cash, tax evasion and the hidden economy, which seeks a better understanding of what implications the trend away from cash has for tax compliance.The call for evidence is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cash-tax-evasion-and-the-hidden-economy-call-for-evidence

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Taxation

Robert Flello: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that lorry drivers have the correct status for the purposes of tax payment.

Mr David Gauke: It is the responsibility of engagers to determine the correct status of workers they engage. HM Revenue & Customs have developed an Employment Status Indicator to help engagers: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-status-indicatorThere is also further help with the status of lorry drivers: www.hmrc.gov.uk/Manuals/esmmanual/ESM4210.htmHM Revenue & Customs is aware that false self-employment presents a tax risk and has deployed compliance resources to address that risk.

Government Departments: Assets

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what were the total receipts from the sale of Government assets (a) from 1 January to 7 May 2015 and (b) from 8 May 2015 to date; and whether any further such sales are expected to take place before the end of the calendar year.

Greg Hands: Reporting on asset sales is made on a financial year basis in departmental accounts. During the 2014-15 financial year the government received £4.2bn from sales of financial assets and £0.2bn from other commercial and financial assets. The timing of any further transactions is a commercial matter and the Government does not forecast exact timing of all sales within a particular fiscal year. Around £30bn of sales are expected in total during 2015-16.

Tax Allowances

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.2 of the Government response to the 49th Report from the Committee of Public Accounts, Session 2014-15, for the effective management of tax reliefs, if he will (a) list and (b) place in the Library the external research reports commissioned by his Department which covers the use of tax reliefs.

Mr David Gauke: A full list of external research reports commissioned by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), with links to the full reports, is published on the HMRC website here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hm-revenue-and-customs-research-report-collection

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy: Job Creation

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an estimate of the number of UK jobs that would be created if contracts in the energy sector supply chain were awarded to UK firms.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 07 December 2015



A report on 'The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy’ published by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs supported by the low carbon sectors across the UK. [1] The report estimates in 2013 there were 460,600 jobs supported by these sectors, comprising 269,800 people employed by firms operating directly in the sector, with a further 190,800 jobs supported in the supply chain.Activity in the oil and gas industry supports jobs directly (those working immediately in the sector), and indirectly (those working in the supply chain), plus others supported in unrelated industries as a result of the direct and indirect workers spending their incomes on goods and services. Oil and Gas UK’s 2014 report estimated 450,000 jobs across the whole economy, comprising:36,000 employed directly200,000 in the supply chain112,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy (induced jobs)100,000 jobs in related export industriesOil and Gas UK updated their analysis in 2015, giving a total of 375,000 jobs across all these areas.The investment driven by the government will support thousands of new jobs across the energy sectors. For example, Hinkley Point C will provide a vital boost for the national and local economy – expected to support 25,000 jobs, with at least 5,000 people from Somerset expected to work directly on the project, providing a £40 million boost to the local economy every year. EDF expects that more than 60% of the value of construction work on HPC will go to UK-based businesses.Work is ongoing between the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding support for jobs in the energy sector. Wherever possible we want to see UK firms completing supply chains and exporting around the world.[1] BIS (March 2015), The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the consultation on a review of the feed-in tariff scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: We are currently analysing feedback submitted during the Feed-in Tariff review consultation and intend to publish a Government response as soon as possible.

Electricity Generation: Costs

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assumptions her Department relied on to produce the information on expenditure on Contracts for Difference in respect of each eligible technology that it provided to inform the Office for Budget Responsibility assessment of the Levy Control Framework.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department takes into account a number of factors to project Levy Control Framework (LCF) spending in relation to Contracts for Difference (CfD) contracts, including capacity for each individual project, strike prices, wholesale electricity prices, load factors and commissioning dates. Some of the CfD predictions that fed into the Office for Budget Responsibility November LCF forecasts are already in the public domain, such as strike prices for signed CfD contracts which are available on the LCCC website. Some predictions are based on commercial intelligence and sensitive information from the developers which we cannot disclose.

Carbon Sequestration

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment the Government has made of the potential contribution of carbon capture and storage to the UK meeting its 2020 carbon reduction targets.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



In DECC’s most recently published reference scenario, Carbon Capture and Storage would generate one per cent of electricity in 2020. The UK has a carbon budget for the period 2018-22 which requires a 37% reduction in emissions on 1990 levels, which we are on track to meet and over-perform by 51 MtCO2e.

Carbon Sequestration: North Sea Oil

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of cancelling the carbon capture and storage on oil recovery from the North Sea oil field over the next 20 years.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



The Government’s view remains that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. There are also potential opportunities for the oil and gas and CCS industries to work together.The Wood Review identified a range of key issues faced by the maturing UK continental shelf, which the Government and industry must jointly address to deliver maximum economic recovery (MER) of UK petroleum. In response, the Government has established the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) as a body focused on delivering MER. This has attracted strong industry support.The OGA is considering the role of CCS in the technology and decommissioning strategies it is developing and will engage with the CCS industry to ensure that opportunities between the industries are identified and explored wherever possible.DECC will continue to engage with industry and academia, to understand the potential for any future schemes to enhance oil recovery from the North Sea.

Carbon Sequestration: Finance

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether carbon capture and storage plants that become operational with the assistance of support not provided by her Department will be eligible to receive contracts for difference.

Andrea Leadsom: Contracts for Difference may be awarded to generators who meet the requirements of eligibility set out in the Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) Regulations 2014. A generating station connected to a complete CCS system is an eligible technology under those Regulations. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of the Secretary of State and would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

Carbon Sequestration

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to produce an updated version of her Department's carbon capture and storage roadmap.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

Carbon Sequestration

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to produce an updated version of her Department's carbon capture and storage scoping document.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

Carbon Sequestration

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans she has for her Department's Office of Carbon Capture and Storage.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors. The detailed design and implementation of CCS policy changes are currently being assessed.

Carbon Sequestration

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of investor confidence in the carbon capture and storage industry following the CCS competition.

Andrea Leadsom: We are engaging closely with the two bidders and wider CCS industry on the implications for them of the recent decisions.

Carbon Sequestration

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects the Carbon Capture and Storage Development Forum sponsored by her Department to meet next.

Andrea Leadsom: I am attending the next meeting of the Carbon Capture and Storage Development Forum later this month.

Carbon Sequestration: Canada

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Canadian Department of Natural Resources on the joint Statement of Co-operation with Canada on Carbon Capture and Storage.

Andrea Leadsom: Officials from the Department, as well as colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, are in regular contact with their Canadian counterparts on this and other issues related to Carbon Capture and Storage.

Solar Power: Finance

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department provides for community solar projects.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



This Government is proud to support the community energy sector. We have provided £2m to support over 100 community groups through the Urban and Rural Community Energy Funds and community solar projects are able to access funding. We also provided £885,000 to Bristol City Council to develop a Local Authority Best Practice Programme, including community solar projects. The DECC-funded online Community Energy Hub helps communities across the UK share knowledge and information on community energy projects.Community solar projects, up to 5MW in capacity, can also currently seek support through the Feed-in Tariff scheme. The scheme provides a generation tariff for the electricity generated by the installation and a tariff for electricity exported to the grid. These payments are in addition to bill savings for those projects that consume electricity generated onsite.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria will need to be satisfied for sites to qualify for inclusion in a list of potential new build nuclear sites for the development of a small modular reactor.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether Trawsfynydd former nuclear power station site in North Wales qualifies for inclusion in a list of possible small nuclear reactor sites in the UK.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will add further sites for the development of small modular reactor technology in the UK in addition to those identified in the 2009 strategic site assessment.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 14 December 2015



The Government is currently undertaking a techno-economic assessment of SMRs which will provide a detailed analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing SMRs. The recent announcement by my Rt. Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of a competition to identify which SMR would offer the best value for development in the UK is a further demonstration of the Government’s commitment to exploring the potential of SMRs for the UK. As Government develops SMR policy further, we will address the issue of site identification for SMRs. No potential sites or siting criteria specifically for SMRs have currently been agreed.

Energy: Research

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the announcement by the Prime Minister at the UN climate change conference in Paris on 30 November, how much from the public purse has been allocated to Mission Innovation to accelerate clean energy investment and innovation.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government set out plans in the Spending Review to invest more in clean energy research and development over the next five years as part of Mission Innovation. By 2020/21 we will be spending in excess of £400m under Mission Innovation.

Renewable Energy

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many legal challenges have been made against her Department related to renewable energy policy in the last year.

Andrea Leadsom: There have been no such legal challenges in the last year.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the feed-in tariff scheme will be paused in January 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: We will be publishing the Government response to the review of the feed-in tariff as soon as possible detailing the changes we will make to the scheme.

Solar Power: Employment

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the change in the number of jobs in the UK solar industry has been since the Summer Budget 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government proposed changes to the feed-in tariff scheme (FITs) as part of the FIT review, on which we consulted widely between 27th August and 23rd October. Part of the purpose of that consultation was to gather views on the broader economic impact of the proposals. The actual impact on the sector will, of course, depend on the options taken forward after all responses to the consultation have been considered. We intend to publish a Government response as soon as possible.The ONS has published first estimates of the UK’s ‘Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy’1 based on 2014; further information from this survey on sub-sectors including solar PV jobs will be published in 2016.[1] http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_426448.pdf

Solar Power: China

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has written to the European Commissioner for Trade on ending the minimum import price on Chinese solar panels.

Andrea Leadsom: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the European Commissioner for Trade in November, requesting ending the minimum import price.

Energy: Summertime

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on consumer energy bills of using daylight saving time all year.

Andrea Leadsom: We are constantly reviewing consumer energy bills, however an assessment on the effect of using daylight saving time all year could have on consumer energy bills has not been carried out.

Northern Ireland Office

Bombardier: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with Bombardier about that company's plans for the number of jobs it provides in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace: Northern Ireland Office Ministers regularly meet a range of businesses and business organisations from across Northern Ireland.The Northern Ireland economic pact recognised the importance of Bombardier as one of Northern Ireland’s largest private sector employers. The Government continues to work with Invest NI to deliver on the commitments contained in the economic pact which included providing research and development funding to Bombardier.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether financial penalties related to welfare reform have been ceased since legislation on that subject was agreed by the Northern Ireland Assembly; and whether there has been reimbursement of such penalties since that agreement.

Mr Ben Wallace: In the Fresh Start Agreement, the Government committed to stop welfare deductions for 2015-16 following Assembly approval of a consent motion to enable primary and secondary legislation to the welfare system to proceed at Westminster.The Government also committed to refund the proportion of deduction due for the remainder of 2015-16, making an equivalent sum available to the NI Executive spread equally over 2016-17 and 2017-18. This will now take place.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rivers: North East Hertfordshire

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2734, what progress her Department has made on restoring physical habitats on chalk rivers in North East Hertfordshire constituency.

Rory Stewart: Through its Restoring Sustainable Abstraction (RSA) Programme, the Environment Agency (EA) is working with local water companies and the Catchment partnerships to significantly improve the condition, flow and habitats of chalk streams Beane, Mimram and Lee.As part of the Programme, Affinity Water and the EA have committed to investing £3 million by 2020 in habitat improvement projects for these chalk streams. These are currently in the planning and design stage. Delivery will accelerate as the Programme progresses over the next five years.In order to achieve the greatest benefit from these works, Affinity Water has agreed to reduce abstraction from local chalk streams by over 40 million litres per day by 2024. It will significantly reduce abstraction at the Whitehall pumping station on the River Beane by 2018 by building a pipeline, currently under construction, to supply customers with water from alternative sources.The EA partnership project at Waterford Marsh, also on the River Beane, has seen improvements for both wildlife and people through chalk stream restoration, pond creation, access repair, and the provision of new information boards.

National Wildlife Crime Unit: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Written Answers of 16 November 2015 to Question 16305 and of 23 November 2015 to Question 17205, whether agreed funding is now in place for the National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016.

Rory Stewart: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, on 7 December 2015, PQ18354.

Air Pollution

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of current progress against the air quality target of 40 microgrammes of NO2 per cubic metre; and whether the Government expects to meet that target.

Rory Stewart: We have improved air quality significantly over recent decades and the UK currently meets the EU limit values for almost all pollutants. We have consulted on our draft revised air quality plans for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which set out a range of local, national and international actions to lower levels of harmful emissions and are currently analysing all of the responses received. By the end of the year we will submit the finalised plans to the European Commission outlining how the UK will meet the EU limit values for NO2 including those of 40 micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre in the shortest possible time.

Regional Planning and Development: Rural Areas

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage economic development in rural areas within English metropolitan counties.

Rory Stewart: In August, the Secretary of State launched the Government’s Rural Productivity Plan. This sets out a series of measures to help rural communities and businesses reach their full potential and contribute to increasing national productivity.By investing in education and skills, increasing wages, improving infrastructure and connectivity, and simplifying planning laws for rural businesses and communities, this will help create thriving rural areas where generations of families can open and expand their businesses, buy a home and educate their children at first class schools.

Beaches

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet (a) Surfers Against Sewage and (b) other charities and non-governmental organisations to discuss measures to keep the UK's beaches clean for sport and recreational activities.

Rory Stewart: The vast majority of our beaches are high quality. We are determined to keep them that way and we are willing to work with all those who want to achieve this. Defra officials regularly meet Surfers Against Sewage and other environmental Non-Government Organisations to talk about the issues impacting our beaches. I would be pleased if they would contact my office to discuss a meeting.

Cucumbers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) maintain and (b) increase the proportion of land used for growing cucumbers.

George Eustice: Commercial cucumber growers in the UK require heated glasshouses.In 2010, we introduced the National Planning Policy Framework which encourages sustainable growth in rural areas and promotes the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. We aim to remove the barriers to building glasshouse nurseries.There are several examples where large industrial plants have constructed substantial heated glasshouse facilities adjacent to their factory to make use of surplus heat and carbon dioxide in horticultural production. The government supports innovative initiatives of this sort.

Forests

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage coppicing of woodland.

Rory Stewart: By increasing awareness and demand for coppice products, woodland owners will be encouraged to reintroduce coppice management in their woods. For this reason, we are working with ‘Grown in Britain’, along with the Forestry Commission and the National Coppice Federation, to introduce a ‘Grown in Britain Coppice’ licence category. This will allow coppice owners and workers to benefit from the ‘Grown in Britain’ brand as it raises the profile of the home grown woodland industry.Where significant biodiversity improvement can be achieved, the practice of coppicing can also be supported through Countryside Stewardship. Under the Priority Habitat (broadleaved woodland) or Priority Species objectives of Woodland Improvement (WD2) schemes, the payment of £100 per hectare per year will be paid for activities which improve the biodiversity of woodland or make it more resilient to climate change. Where coppicing forms part of the sustainable long term management of a woodland, it can be supported though this scheme under a multi-annual agreement.

Hunting

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people participated in hunting with fox hounds in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Rory Stewart: The Government does not hold information on the number of people participating in foxhunting. However, according to the Countryside Alliance around 45,000 people regularly follow hunts (http://countryside-alliance.org/support-for-boxing-day-hunts-reinforces-need-for-repeal-of-the-hunting-act/).

Bees: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what incentives her Department provides to farmers to increase bee habitats.

George Eustice: This is a devolved matter, so I can only answer for England. Defra has made £900 million available for the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched in July 2015. For the first time ever this includes a dedicated Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife package. We are pleased that over half of mid–tier applications for agreements contain this package of options. The package has been developed by Natural England working in close partnership with wildlife organisations, the farming community and national pollinator scientists. This ensures it is based upon the best available evidence.Countryside Stewardship plays a key role in supporting the National Pollinator Strategy, which demonstrates the Government’s commitment to improving the status of the country’s 1,500 or so pollinating insect species. This is a programme of collaborative action and cooperation that contains a wide range of specific actions to supporthabitats for bees on farmland. In November 2015 Defra published the implementation plan for the strategy, which highlights the progress made to date, including guidance and training to farmers on supporting pollinators from the Campaign for the Farmed Environment.

Countryside: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring that children have access to the countryside and learn about wildlife.

Rory Stewart: The Secretary of State is working closely with Department for Education Ministers to ensure the national curriculum gives all children the opportunity to learn about nature and the environment. In particular, we are providing more opportunities for school children to plant, care for and learn about trees. This will give young children the chance to understand and connect with nature, and play a role in making their school grounds and local communities cleaner and greener.Defra, Natural England and English Heritage have also funded the Natural Connections project which aims to increase the number of school- aged children experiencing the full range of benefits that come from learning in local natural environments. The approach is being piloted in 5 areas across the South West of England and has involved 125 schools.

Zoonoses

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the risk to the UK of (a) rabies, (b) the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm and (c) other zoonotic diseases.

George Eustice: The quantitative rabies risk assessment carried out prior to harmonisation with the EU pet travel rules in 2012 took into account, amongst other things, a number of variables including a doubling in the number of cats and dogs entering the country. Pets entering on a UK pet passport (i.e. returning from an overseas visit) were not included in this analysis as they must be fully protected against rabies before leaving the UK. We are continuing to monitor the factors considered in the risk assessment and are content that the risk remains very low. The risk assessment was published in 2011 and is available here:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.395.143&rep=rep1&type=pdfIn 2010 we carried out an assessment of risk from the tapeworm Echinococcus Multilocularis in readiness for harmonisation and which confirmed continuing risk through the movement of pet dogs. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animal-diseases-international-monitoring As a result, the UK continues to maintain its controls against Echinococcus multilocularis. Since 1 January 2012 import controls relating to this tapeworm have been implemented under EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1152/2011. This Regulation lays down the tapeworm import conditions which pet dogs must comply with when being moved into the UK from other countries. The European Food Safety Authority is currently assessing how the new regulation has been implemented in the free countries (Ireland, Malta, Finland and the UK) and this includes a new assessment of any change in risk. Experts from the UK as well as other Member States have been part of this working group and the opinion will be published in 2016 prior to the review of the legislation required in December 2016. We are continuing to monitor the factors considered in the risk assessment as we do for any notifiable disease and will take the EFSA opinion into account when it is finalised.Officials from the Department work closely with colleagues from public health and food safety to assess the risk posed to people by zoonotic diseases. While a number of mechanisms exist for this purpose depending on the specific disease, the main cross – Government group that identifies and assesses emerging infection risks to human health (non-food borne disease) is the HAIRS (Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance) group which meets on a monthly basis and includes veterinary experts from the APHA:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/human-animal-infections-and-risk-surveillance-group-hairs.

Flood Control: North West

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what review her Department has conducted on flood protection measures since the recent floods in Cumbria and Lancashire.

Rory Stewart: The Environment Secretary announced on Sunday 13 December a new Cumbrian Floods Partnership group that will consider what improvements to flood defences in the region may be needed, look at upstream options for slowing key rivers to reduce the intensity of water flows at peak times and build stronger links between local residents, community groups and flood defence planning.The Environment Secretary also announced a National Flood Resilience Review will be carried out to better protect the country from future flooding and increasingly extreme weather events. This will be delivered by a new cross Government team.I will also be taking on a special Floods Envoy role across Cumbria and Lancashire coordinating the flood recovery operation across local agencies over the coming months.

Pet Travel Scheme

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require enforcers of the Pet Travel Scheme to carry out visual checks on dogs entering the UK.

George Eustice: The UK carries out more checks on pets at the border than most other EU Member States. It is a condition of their approval that the transport companies check 100% of pets declared by their owners for compliance with the EU Pet Travel Scheme. The only way that we are practically able to have a system of checking every declared pet dog entering Great Britain, on an approved route, is by working in partnership with the transport companies.

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review sentencing guidelines for serious animal cruelty offences to ensure that the gravity of offences is adequately reflected.

George Eustice: Guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council. The Council monitor the operation of their guidelines, which ensure that sentences are consistent and proportionate. We understand the Council has no immediate plans to revise the guidelines.

Pet Travel Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Pet Travel Scheme Regulations.

George Eustice: The pets checkers (carriers or agents) which carry out checks to ensure pets animals are compliant with Pet Travel Scheme rules are audited by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the results show that they are performing satisfactorily. In 2014, APHA audited close to 6,000 pets. Of these only 0.9% of the pets were found not to comply with the entry rules. These pets were either detained until their compliance could be established, re-exported or placed into quarantine.

Dogs: Smuggling

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the efficacy of existing legislation to stop the illegal importation of puppies into the UK.

George Eustice: Pet animals, including puppies entering the UK, must comply with the requirements of the Pet Travel Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 576/2013). This is enforced, in Great Britain, by the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011. Animals, including puppies, entering the UK for sale or rehoming are subject to the provisions of the Council Directive 92/65/EEC (Balai Directive). This is implemented, in Great Britain, by the Trade in Animal and Related Products Regulations 2011.Both regulations provide for the Secretary of State to carry out a periodic review. Work on the review of the Trade in Animal and Related Products Regulations 2011 is already underway. The review of the Non Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011 will commence early next year.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of disallowance penalties relating to the Common Agricultural Policy as a result of the return to paper-assisted digital applications in 2015.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the definition of paper-assisted digital applications is for the Common Agricultural Policy Delivery Programme.

George Eustice: The new Common Agricultural Policy has been widely recognised as being more complex for farmers to understand and harder for Member States to administer. The new schemes have not yet been audited by the European Commission so it is too early to say what the level of any disallowance will be, but complexity tends to increase disallowance risk.For the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) sent pre-populated claim forms to farmers and land owners to allow them to submit their applications before the deadline. The RPA provided an unprecedented level of support to farmers and land owners through the Rural Payments Helpline and 50 Drop In Centres that allowed some 88,000 applications to be received within the deadline. ‘Paper-assisted’ means that forms were completed on paper but then entered on to a digital system by RPA staff.

Department of Health

Baby Care Units: Nurses

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there are enough neonatal nurses who have completed accredited training in specialised neonatal care to enable neonatal units to meet marker of good practice 2.2.3 in the Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services, published by the NHS and his Department in October 2009.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there are enough neonatal nurses to enable neonatal units to meet markers of good practice 2.2.5, 2.2.6 and 2.2.7 in the Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services, published by the NHS and his Department in October 2009.

Ben Gummer: A key standard set out within NHS England’s service specification for specialised neonatal critical care is that hospitals trusts who do not meet the staffing levels recommended by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, must be working towards an agreed plan with their respective Regional Specialised Commissioning Teams to meet and maintain the nurse staffing levels in line with the Department’s Toolkit for High Quality Neonatal Services.The increasing demand for neonatal care has resulted in additional challenges for some trusts in meeting the recommended nurse to patient ratios. However, 71 (54%) of the 131 neonatal critical care services now meet required staffing ratios and NHS England Regional Specialised Services Commissioning Teams continue to work with their respective hospital trusts to improve this situation.

Dementia: Young People

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether local provision through clinical commissioning groups and local authorities is ensuring that high-quality, personalised services are being delivered for young people with dementia and their carers.

Jane Ellison: The Government is clear that all types of dementia remain a priority and will implement the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020. Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we want to see:- Every person diagnosed with dementia having meaningful care following their diagnosis, which supports them and those around them, with meaningful care being in accordance with published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standards.- Information on what post-diagnosis services are available locally and how these can be accessed, through for example an annual ‘information prescription’.- Access to relevant advice and support to help and advice on what happens after a diagnosis and the support available through the journey.- Carers of people with dementia being made aware of and offered the opportunity for respite, education, training, emotional and psychological support so that they feel able to cope with their caring responsibilities and to have a life alongside caring.Under the 2020 Challenge, we wish to encourage greater personalisation in the provision of post-diagnosis services – this means building support around the individual with dementia, their carer and their family.It is for clinical commissioning groups and local authorities, working together, to ensure that high quality, personalised services are delivered for people with dementia including younger people and their carers.

Obesity: Surgery

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what account will be taken of NICE's clinical guidelines on levels of patient access in setting the budgets devolved by NHS England to clinical commissioning groups for obesity surgery from April 2016.

George Freeman: NHS England would expect commissioners to take account of this guidance when commissioning services.Any transfer of budget from NHS England to devolved areas will be on the basis of existing contractual activity.Before the transfer of services, NHS England will complete a data capture exercise, working with providers through the specialised commissioning hubs, to collect the current activity level. This will provide the basis for the transfer of the budget. Governance sign off will then be agreed at NHS England Board level.

Obesity: Surgery

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England's Clinical Reference Group for Severe and Complex Obesity will publish its proposed template for clinical commissioning groups on access to obesity surgery pathways and follow-up treatment.

George Freeman: The template is in development and the draft will be shared in January 2016.

Mental Health Task Force

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the change in the publication date of the Mental Health Taskforce report to January 2016.

Alistair Burt: The independent Mental Health Taskforce has committed to delivering a costed five year mental health strategy for the NHS. Following the important announcement in the Spending Review that the Government is investing an additional £600m in mental health during this period, in line with the priorities identified in the strategy, the Taskforce is now finalising its recommendations and supporting analysis to ensure these are robust. Their report is due to be ready for publication by NHS England in the New Year.

Obesity: Surgery

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on patient outcomes of the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to clinical commissioning groups from April 2016.

George Freeman: We do not expect obesity outcomes to be affected, as the change will primarily be in regard to commissioning responsibilities. However, we believe the transfer should support better integration between Tier 3 and Tier 4 services (which include obesity services) which in turn should improve patient pathways.

Organs: Donors

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the rate of consent to deceased organ donation and (b) measure changes in attitudes towards deceased organ donation with regular public surveys.

Jane Ellison: The ‘Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020: A UK strategy’, published in July 2013, set out our plans for the United Kingdom to be among the best in the world for organ donation and transplantation. It also highlighted an aim to increase the consent/authorisation rate to donation and to make donation an accepted part of end of life care. Progress is measured through registration on the NHS Organ Donor Register and through actual donor numbers. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) the organ donation organisation for the UK evaluates the effectiveness of its communications in raising awareness, and having a positive impact on public perceptions of deceased organ donation, through regular tracking research.NHSBT is taking a number of steps to improve the rate of consent to deceased organ donation. As part of the behaviour change communication strategy, NHSBT has stressed in publicity and promotional material the important role conversations about organ donation within families have in improving consent rates. Families are encouraged to discuss organ donation, to talk about their decisions and to join the organ donor register. This includes the newly designed organ donor card. The message during National Transplant Week this year was the need to have conversations with families about donation.

Organs: Donors

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on incorporating discussion of organ donation and transplantation into the school curriculum.

Jane Ellison: The National Curriculum sets the minimum requirements for what schools should teach and schools can build on that knowledge to cover topics such as organ donation and transplantation based on the needs of their pupils. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) have recently launched updated resources for teachers and others to promote discussion around organ donation in learning environments. These resources will be promoted to teachers in England early in the New Year. The lessons packs are available online athttps://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/about-donation/educational-resources/In addition Anthony Nolan, an organisation part-funded by the Department of Health, delivers an education programme in partnership with NHSBT, through which volunteers deliver talks in schools and colleges to students aged 16 -18.Departmental officials and NHSBT will continue to explore additional opportunities to promote organ donation and transplantation to school age children.

Mental Health Services: Parents

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that all parents with a child admitted to a neonatal unit have access to psychological and bereavement support.

Alistair Burt: The NHS locally is expected to ensure that appropriate facilities and services are in place to support parents following the illness or death of a newborn baby. NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that “the service will deliver the aim to improve both life expectancy and quality of life for newborn babies by:- Delivering care in a family-centred way that seeks to minimise the physical and psychological impact of neonatal care on the baby and their family, for example by improving psychological outcomes and breastfeeding rates- Providing an environment where parents are enabled to make informed decisions about treatment and become involved in the care of their baby / babies, thereby minimising the psychological trauma of premature or sick term babies.”The MBRRACE-UK report on the confidential enquiry into term antepartum stillbirths, published on 19 November 2015, found a good standard of bereavement care documented as being given to parents immediately following birth. However, several areas for improvement were identified including the finding that there was wide variation in the availability of a specialist bereavement midwife, with only one third of case notes showing evidence of their involvement.Following that report, and following a debate in the House of Commons on 2 November, (Official Report, columns 844-852) the Department is looking at the number of bereavement suites around the country and will engage with the NHS to reaffirm the importance of putting into practice existing guidance on bereavement including through mandated accountability processes.Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.

Disability: Children

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to reduce the incidence of disability and long-term health problems among children born prematurely.

Ben Gummer: On 13 November, the Government announced an ambitious campaign to halve the national rates of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injuries in babies by 2030. To help meet these aims, the Government will establish a £2.24 million fund to support trusts to buy cutting-edge monitoring or training equipment to improve safety.NHS England commissions Neonatal Care from 165 neonatal units which are organised and supported by 13 Operational Delivery Networks. These Networks have brought tangible benefits in helping to ensure that babies are delivered in the right place to receive specialist care when it is needed.To support the provision of safe, high quality care for sick and premature babies and their families, NHS England’s Neonatal Critical Care Service Specification states that providers should ensure that expert and experienced staff treat sufficient numbers of cases to maintain a safe high quality service and move towards national standards. Clinical expertise is a key determinant of outcomes for these babies.The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence published guidelines in November 2015 on the care of women at increased risk of or with symptoms and signs of preterm labour (before 37 weeks) and women having a planned preterm birth. It aims to reduce the risks of preterm birth for the baby and describes treatments to prevent or delay early labour and birth.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department's ability to perform background checks on doctors from European countries and to ensure that they meet the medical qualification standards required by the NHS.

Ben Gummer: The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest. The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.In the United Kingdom, independent health regulators are responsible for performing checks on health professionals from European countries to ensure that they meet agreed standards of fitness to practise. For doctors, this role is undertaken by the General Medical Council.Although under the EPC system the responsibility for carrying out initial background checks will transfer to the home regulator of the professional, UK regulators will continue to be able to carry out registration checks, and can require additional information if there are any justifiable doubts about a registrant’s application or fitness to practise.The UK Government has negotiated new safeguards to ensure that the high standards we expect from staff in this country are met by those from elsewhere in Europe who come to work here. These include:- the introduction of an EU-wide alert mechanism which regulators will use to inform other countries of professionals who have been restricted from practising; and- applying language controls for healthcare professionals from the EU so that regulators are able to ensure that professionals have the necessary knowledge of English before they are able to work in the UK.

NHS: Competition

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from (a) the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington and (b) the hon. Member for Lewisham East on the effects of EU competition law on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is not aware of having received any representations from either hon. Member on this matter.With regards to the application of European Union competition law (the basis of which is found in Article 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), the Health and Social Care Act 2012 did not extend its application to the National Health Service. Where providers of health services are found to be acting as undertakings they would be subject to competition law, and therefore subject to the safeguards that the law provides for patient and taxpayer interests.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to exempt people with long-term serious conditions from prescription charges for repeated renewals of their medication.

Alistair Burt: A person is entitled to apply for a medical exemption certificate exempting them from the prescription charge if they suffer from:- a permanent fistula (including caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy, or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requires an appliance- forms of hypoadrenalism (including Addison's disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential- diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism- diabetes mellitus (except where treatment of the diabetes is by diet alone)- hypoparathyroidism- myasthenia gravis- myxoedema- epilepsy requiring continuous anti-convulsive therapy- continuing physical disability which prevents the patient from leaving their residence without the help of another person- they are undergoing treatment for cancer, the effects of cancer or the effects of cancer treatment.There are no plans to change this list.Other extensive exemption arrangements are in place, in England, including those based on income, which support those who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions. For those who need multiple prescriptions and do not qualify for exemption, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPC) can be purchased, which allow someone to claim as many prescriptions as needed. A 12 month PPC costs £104 and benefits anyone who needs 13 or more prescriptions a year.

NHS: Innovation

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plan to respond to the Accelerated Access Review: Interim Report, published in October 2015; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Interim Report of Sir Hugh Taylor’s Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is a deliberately high level document that indicates direction of travel; as such, government will be responding to the AAR’s conclusions when its final recommendations are published early in the spring of 2016.

Leukaemia: Drugs

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that the new Cancer Drugs Fund will increase patient access to medicines for acute myeloid leukaemia.

George Freeman: NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting jointly on draft proposals on the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund.The consultation was published on 19 November 2015 and is open until 11 February 2016. It states that it is looking to put in place a solution that ensures patients have routine access to a greater range of cancer drugs, including earlier access to innovative drugs, while ensuring that cost-effectiveness is maintained. Further information is available at:www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects Orkambi to be appraised by NICE.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of Orkambi (lumacaftor in combination with ivacaftor) for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in people who are homozygous for the F508del mutation. NICE’s anticipated publication date for this guidance is July 2016. Further information is available at:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-tag530

NHS: Drugs

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on reforming of NICE's procedure for appraisal of medicines.

George Freeman: We receive representations about the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) technology appraisal programme from hon. Members, members of the public, clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry.NICE is the independent body that provides guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care and is responsible for its own processes and methodology.NICE regularly reviews these and its internationally renowned technology appraisal programme has evolved constantly to meet new challenges. NICE has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changes in the health and care environment, and we expect it will continue to evolve in the future, in particular through the recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review which NICE is centrally involved in.Further guidance on NICE’s processes of technology appraisal is available at:www.nice.org.uk/article/pmg19/chapter/Foreword

Alcoholic Drinks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen regulation of marketing of alcoholic drinks; and what the Government's policy is on introducing minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

Jane Ellison: UK controls (regulatory and self-regulatory) control both the placement and content of alcohol advertising to prevent advertisers targeting young people.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) police and promote the rules, which were strengthened in October 2005 and part of a general review of all the ASA codes in late 2009.The Government is committed to working with industry to address concerns over any irresponsible promotions, advertising and marketing relating to alcohol, particularly to ensure that children and young people are suitably protected.Material in the Committee of Advertising Practice and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Codes relating to the advertising and marketing of alcohol products is exceptionally robust, recognising the social imperative of ensuring that alcohol advertising is responsible and in particular that children and young people are suitably protected.If new evidence emerges that clearly highlights major problems with the existing Codes, then the Advertising Standards Authority has a duty to revisit the Codes and take appropriate action.The Government has no plans to introduce Minimum Unit Pricing although the evidence for all policy approaches is kept under review.We have noted the recent opinion of the EU Advocate General. We await a final ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union and we will continue to monitor developments.In the meantime we are pursuing targeted action to reduce alcohol-related harms.

Social Services

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish his Department's contingency plans for provider failure in the social care market.

Alistair Burt: Local authorities retain responsibility for managing provider failure in the social care market. The Government has worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and partners to publish guidance to support local authorities to develop contingency plans for managing the failure of a social care provider in their local area. The guidance can be found at:http://www.lgiu.org.uk/report/care-and-continuity-guide/The Care Act also gave the Care Quality Commission a new function to oversee the finances of care providers which are either large or whose provision is geographically concentrated as their financial failure would make it difficult for local authorities to discharge their statutory responsibilities.The oversight function will provide early warning to relevant local authorities in the event that one of these providers is likely to fail and their services cease. This will allow local authorities time to implement contingency plans.

Walking

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people to walk for up to 30 minutes a day.

Jane Ellison: The Government recognises that walking is a key part of being active. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines for adults recommending 150 minutes of physical activity every week, identify walking as the easiest way of building physical activity into everyday life. To raise awareness of the guidelines, we have recently created an infographic for health professionals to use when they discuss physical activity with their patients. We have made walking a key part of the recommended activity.Following the Infrastructure Act 2015, the Department of Health has also been working closely with Department of Transport on plans which will underpin the first Cycling and Walking Delivery Plan to be published in the summer. This will take forward the vision set out in the Cycling Delivery Plan 2014, to make walking and cycling the natural choices for short journeys or as part of a longer journey.

Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups improve (a) screening, (b) vaccination and (b) symptom awareness in order to address geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes.

Jane Ellison: The NHS public health functions agreement, between the Secretary of State for Health and NHS England, enables NHS England to commission certain public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes that will drive improvements in population health.Through this agreement, NHS England commissions services from a variety of providers across England. It strives to reduce variation in local levels of performance between different geographical areas using contracting and commissioning levers, while national and local levels of performance are improved or maintained.The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year, and recognised the importance of early diagnosis and symptom awareness to improve both patient outcomes and experience. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy.

Health: Children

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a standardised baseline measure for children's fitness.

Jane Ellison: There are no current plans to introduce a standardised baseline measure for children's fitness. The Government’s focus has been on raising awareness of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity guidelines and wider healthy lifestyle choices through a number of initiatives including, the National Child Measurement Programme, Change4Life campaigns and programmes to promote physical activity in schools such as the Primary PE and Sport Premium, School Games and Change4Life Sports Clubs.

Health and Social Services: Northern Ireland

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the integrated health and social care system in Northern Ireland in formulating policy on how to better integrate health and social care.

Alistair Burt: The Department regularly reviews international evidence in relation to integrated health and social care services. While Northern Ireland has had a structurally integrated health and social care system since 1973, and in more recent years has undergone a restructure in an effort to deliver more coordinated and integrated care, academic evaluation of integration in Northern Ireland has been relatively limited to date. Nonetheless, officials continue to monitor new publications on this subject.It is important to note that while there is a growing body of evidence from around the world about what works with regard to integration, no country has successfully delivered integration on a universal scale. Moreover, due to fundamental differences in the design of different health and care systems it is not straightforward to apply lessons learnt elsewhere to the English system.More generally, the Government recently reemphasised its ambition to integrate health and social care across England by 2020, and will continue to monitor international evidence as policy is formulated with respect to this programme.

Health Services

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS hospitals in coordinating with private or third sector care providers to optimise results for patients.

Ben Gummer: We would encourage working between all providers of health and care, to maximise safe and effective care for all patients.Decisions about whether to use non-NHS capacity are generally made at local level, as part of the operational management of capacity and demand.

Social Services: Staff

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings he has had with homecare providers to discuss how to improve recruitment and retention rates in the care sector.

Alistair Burt: I have responsibility for adult social care. I regularly meet with homecare providers to discuss a range of topics including improving recruitment and retention rates in the care sector.

Hospital Beds

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal guidance exists on the role of social care providers in helping to formulate discharge procedures within NHS hospitals.

Alistair Burt: The Care Act 2014 requires the National Health Service to notify local authorities whenever a hospital patient is likely to have care and support needs once they are discharged from hospital. This requirement was part of the wide ranging consultation on the draft regulations and guidance for implementation of the Act. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance sets out these procedures in more detail; they are designed to ensure that local authorities and the NHS work together to ensure that people have the correct support on leaving hospital.In addition, NHS England’s guidance on Monthly Delayed Transfer of Care Situation Reports highlights the importance of the role of the multi-disciplinary team, including social workers, in determining patients’ on-going health and social care needs once they leave hospital.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also recently published its guideline on transition between hospital inpatient settings and community or care homes for adults with social care needs. It aims to improve people’s experience of admission to, and discharge from, hospital by better coordination of health and social care services.

Nurses: Training

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of finance options available to student nurses; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: From 1 August 2017, new nursing, midwifery and allied health students will no longer receive NHS bursaries. Instead, they will have access to the same student loans system as other students.We intend that students studying nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects as a second degree will also be able to get student loans.The change will only affect new students commencing their courses from 1 August 2017.We plan to run a consultation in early 2016 to ask how we can successfully deliver the reforms.Under the loans system, students on nursing, midwifery and allied health courses will receive around a 25% increase in the financial support available to them for living costs. The precise change for individuals will be dependent on their circumstances – for example, where they study, the length of the course, income and residency.

Mental Illness: Discrimination

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons he has not yet announced funding for the Time to Change campaigns beyond March 2016.

Alistair Burt: We have provided £3.2 million in funding in 2015/16 to the Time to Change programme to support the excellent work the programme does in reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.The Time to Change programme received £16 million in funding from Government between 2011/12 and 2014/15.Officials are in discussions with Time to Change, and its other funding partners, about the next phase of the programme.

Mental Health Services: Schools

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to report on the progress of the pilot being run in conjunction with the Department for Education to give schools access to a single point of contact for mental health.

Alistair Burt: The Department for Education and NHS England have commissioned Ecorys to undertake an independent evaluation of the Mental Health Services and School Link Pilots. The evaluation will run from October 2015 to November 2016, covering all 22 pilot sites with Ecorys formally reporting back to the Department for Education and NHS England towards the end of 2016.

Carers: Mental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the mental health of young carers and young adult carers as part of the Future in Mind policy.

Alistair Burt: We recognise that young carers may have particular vulnerabilities and are more likely to develop mental health problems because they fulfil that caregiver role.That is why the local transformation planning process, currently being implemented by every clinical commissioning group across England, will be so important. Local Transformation Plans establish an integrated whole system approach to driving the improvements children and young people want, with the NHS, public health, voluntary and community, local authority children’s services, education and youth justice sectors working together to provide improved support to those children and young people who have a mental health need or who as a young carer might be more likely to develop a mental health need.

Zero Hours Contracts: Mental Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effects of zero-hour and uncertain hour contracts on the mental health of people holding such contracts.

Alistair Burt: The Department has no plans to make any such assessment. Research undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that, compared to the average employee, zero hours contract workers are just as satisfied with their job (65% versus 63%) and happier with their work-life balance (62% versus 58%).

Mental Health Services: Performance Standards

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish details of his proposal to introduce Ofsted-style ratings for clinical commissioning groups' mental health services.

Alistair Burt: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has announced that the new Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) assessment framework being developed by NHS England will contain six key clinical areas, including mental health. The framework will be published in March 2016 and will be operational from 1 April 2016.An annual assessment of these clinical areas will be moderated by independent panels of experts. Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of MIND, has been appointed panel chair for mental health.A first simple assessment of all CCGs in these six areas will be published in June 2016. The formal annual summative assessment of all CCGs for 2016/17 will happen at the end of that financial year and be published in summer 2017. The annual assessment will be based on a four point scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.

Heart Diseases: Young People

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) identify and (b) support young people at risk of cardiac problems.

Jane Ellison: There are a number of inherited cardiac conditions. These include familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) (which leads to premature cardiac disease and reduction in life expectancy), and conditions which increase the risk of sudden cardiac death.The responsibility for commissioning FH services lies with local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Provision of services will take into account the needs of the population overall.NICE has published a guideline on the identification and management of FH which includes recommendations that children at risk because they have a parent with FH should have diagnostic tests before the age of 10. The national clinical director (NCD) for heart disease at NHS England is working to promote cascade testing for the relatives of people who have hypercholesterolaemia. NHS England’s NCD has also worked closely with the British Heart Foundation in their appointment of FH Nurses to undertake genetic testing, and with the other major charity in this field - HEART-UK.NHS England is working closely with Public Health England (PHE) to identify the barriers to FH testing (and cholesterol management in general) with the support of the British Heart Foundation and a great deal is now being done to raise the profile of this condition, break down the barriers to genetic testing and provide better management of the condition.With regards to those conditions which may raise the risk of sudden cardiac death, the National Screening Committee concluded that a national screening programme was not appropriate. However, children who are taken on by football clubs for formal youth training do undergo cardiac screening as do a number of professional sports participants.A recent review concluded that childhood obesity not only increases cardiovascular risk in adulthood, but it is also associated with cardiovascular damage during childhood.To identify and support children classified as obese and therefore at risk of cardiovascular disease, PHE oversees delivery of England’s National Child Measurement programme (NCMP). NCMP provides robust local and national data on child weight status to inform health service planning and engage families through the provision of feedback of results to parents. Local authorities are provided with guidance to support the delivery of the NCMP programme and encouraged to sign post parents to local weight management services where possible.The programme covers children in Reception (ages 4-5 years) and Year 6 (ages 10-11 years), and is now a mandated public health function of local authorities.There is also strong evidence for a positive association between physical activity and cardio-metabolic health among school aged children, with higher levels of physical activity associated with higher levels of cardiovascular and metabolic health.PHE is working to support children to adhere to healthy eating guidelines and meet the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines through a number of approaches including through its flagship Change4Life programme and the development and implementation of the framework, ‘Everybody Active, Everyday’ at national and local level. This framework sets out a long term, evidence-based approach to embed physical activity into daily life.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has received (a) since his appointment as Secretary of State and (b) since the appointment of his predecessor in that post expressing concerns about Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when (a) his Department, (b) NHS England and (c) Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust first received a copy of the Mazers report on Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Alistair Burt: A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 40 items of correspondence expressing concerns about Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.In 2014, NHS England initiated action including an investigation of the deaths of all patients of the trust who had been in receipt of mental health or learning disability services since 2011.We are advised by NHS England that a first draft of the Mazars report was shared with it and Southern Health Foundation Trust in September 2015. The Department has not received a copy of the report and the report is still to be finalised before publication.

Social Services: Living Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on making additional funding available to local authorities to help fund the introduction of the national living wage into social care from April 2016; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Over the course of the Spending Review there have been a large number of in-depth discussions at both official and Ministerial level to inform the outcome. These discussions and analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:- The introduction of a social care precept, which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond. This could raise up to £2 billion by the end of the Parliament; and- From 2017/18, additional funds for social care will be made available through the Better Care Fund. This will rise to £1.5 billion by 2019/20.Following this additional funding, we expect councils will be able to increase the prices they pay for care in order to cover costs providers are facing such as the national living wage.

General Practitioners: Rents

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of GP surgeries which will pay increased rental charges for their premises after NHS Property Services Ltd moves to market value rents; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Department has been reviewing the rent arrangements NHS Property Services inherited from primary care trusts in April 2013, with a view to moving towards a more rational charging policy. It is estimated around 900 general practitioner practices would pay increased rental charges for their premises if NHS Property Services moves to market value rents. Rental costs would be reimbursable in the normal way in accordance with the NHS ‘premises costs’ directions.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: Foreign Nationals

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust received for treating people from outside the EU in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014.

Alistair Burt: Patients who are not ‘ordinarily resident’ in the United Kingdom and to whom no exemption from charges under the Charging Regulations applies should be directly charged.Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for funding the care of those visitors to the UK who are exempt from charges and those services that are free to all overseas visitors. Data are not collected centrally.

Health Centres: Harrow

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers of his Department have had with Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group about providing a polyclinic in the eastern part of the London Borough of Harrow; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: There have been no discussions between Health Ministers and Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on this matter.NHS England has advised us that there are already two practices offering walk-in appointments in the west of the Harrow CCG area. We understand that the CCG is planning to establish a third primary care hub with the same service specification in the east of the Borough.

Social Services: Living Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of introducing the national living wage into social care from April 2016.

Alistair Burt: The Department of Health has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust: Performance Standards

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust services.

Jane Ellison: The Chief Inspector of Hospitals Inspection within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2014 rated the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust as “Requires Improvement”. In 2015 the CQC rated the Trust as ‘Inadequate’. The Trust is urgently implementing the action recommended. In addition, the Trust is actively engaged with the Emergency Care Improvement Programme to ensure that the Trust can deliver the accident and emergency standard by March 2016.

Prisons: Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners are taking part in drug and alcohol treatment programmes (a) in total and (b) in each prison in England and Wales.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many prisoners received treatment for (a) alcohol addiction, (b) drug addiction and (c) any other addiction in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England provides local information for performance monitoring in the restricted access section of the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System website, but does not publish national data centrally.